Dave Dorman Introduces His New WASTED LANDS Board Game and Trading Card Game: IRON WARS

Dear Friends,

As always, it’s great fun exhibiting at San Diego Comic-Con and seeing old friends and new friends. It’s also a great honor to be working with game designers Mike Bawden and Tim Bawden of Silent Gunfight, who are premiering the prototype to IRON WARS, a WASTED LANDS game at our Booth #4500, alongside Mike Kennedy and Elizabeth Kennedy of SequentialInk.com, who are publishing my RAIL: BROKEN THINGS – A Tale of the Wasted Lands graphic novel online for FREE here, so check it out! Here are some images of our new IRON WARS game for those of you who cannot be here to see it in person. It’s a strategy board game and a trading card – best described as Risk-meets-Magic The Gathering, but not as fantasy-oriented. Let me know what you all think. I’m interested in your feedback and I thank you in advance for checking it out! And if you have time, please “Like” my Facebook fan page for THE WASTED LANDS. That link is https://www.facebook.com/davedormanwastedlands

As always, I appreciate your interest in my creator-owned world, THE WASTED LANDS. If you’re at #SDCC this year, please stop by. If not, follow me on Twitter @DaveDorman or on my Facebook page for continual postings.

Thank you,

Dave.

 

 

 

First Look: Dave Dorman Original Wizard of Oz Art Premieres This Weekend at VISIONS OF OZ Show in L.A.

LOS ANGELES, CA—March 1, 2013— Dave Dorman’s “Dorothy Daydreams” original painting will be included in the upcoming Creature Features Visions of Oz gallery art show being held at the Heritage Square Museum in Los Angeles, California from March 3 – 31. Dorman’s painting, rendered traditionally in oil and acrylic mediums, is a visual homage to the L. Frank Baum literary classic Oz books.

Said Dorman, “It was an honor to be invited to participate in this tribute. For Dorothy Daydreams, I returned to the spirit of L. Frank Baum’s young protagonist, capturing some of her desire to escape the harsh and desolate reality of her Kansas dustbowl farm for the fantasy of a much more colorful, imaginary world.” Dorman will be showing the art progressives from pencil illustration to final painting this weekend on this blog.

Dave Dorman’s “Dorothy Daydreams” Painting. Oil and acrylic on canvas. 24″ x 36.”

Creature Features curated this multimedia exhibit, showcasing more than 100 works from a diverse group of artists. The collection includes illustrations, paintings, sculptures and full-sized recreations of favorite Oz characters. Also included in the exhibit will be historical memorabilia such as rare editions of the original L. Frank Baum books, props, concepts and artwork from various Oz-themed film & TV projects and many more surprises.

Museum tours are $10; OZ exhibit-only admittance is $5. For more information, visit CreatureFeatures.com/VisionsofOz or call (323) 225-2700. Heritage Square Museum is located at 3800 Homer Street, Los Angeles. The museum’s website is http://heritagesquare.org.

About Dave Dorman

Eisner, Inkpot and Bram Stoker Award-winning illustrator, writer and creator Dave Dorman was voted the #1 Star Wars Artist of All Time by fans of the property worldwide, and his art book Star Wars: The Art of Dave Dorman was an international bestseller. His landmark, critically acclaimed graphic novel, Aliens: Tribes, won him an Eisner and Bram Stoker Award as well as changing the way the publishing ad entertainment industries viewed the medium. Dorman’s own critically acclaimed Intellectual Property,  The Wasted Lands—the Sergio Leone-meets-motorcycle western epic tale of good vs. evil in a dystopian society recovering from “the Iron Wars”–continued to raise the bar in the graphic novel publishing arena and set a new standard. Another Dorman I.P., Dead Heat, is the Bram Stoker Award-winning horror anthology of his tales of the protagonist motorcycle zombie known as “Hitch.” Dorman’s autobiography, Rolling Thunder: The Art of Dave Dorman (IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing) encompasses an estimated one-third of his illustrious art career, which includes licensed works of such classic properties as G.I. Joe, Indiana Jones, Predator, Robotech, Batman, Captain America, Spiderman, Judge Dredd, Transformers, Green Lantern, Green Hornet, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, World of Warcraft and many more. Corporate clients include 20th Century Fox, Rhythm & Hues, Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast, Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, IDW, Upper Deck, Topps, FASA Corp., and many more.

Dorman is a sought-after instructor who has taught at American Academy of Art, Savannah College of Art & Design, Reverie (Massive Black/ConceptArt.org), Columbia College and The Gnomon School. His video art tutorials are available at The Gnomon Workshop. 

 

Media Contact:

Denise Dorman, Publicist

WriteBrain Media

P: 630.845.4694

E: denise@writebrainmedia.com

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Dave Dorman Star Wars Celebration VI – 30 Prints Still Available and More News

Dear Friends,

Through an agreement with Lucasfilm, I am able to sell my remaining unsold prints from SWCVI. I have approximately 30 prints available and I am happy to announce I can now offer them to those who could not attend the show in person.

Here is the order link:

http://www.davedorman.com/swc6print.shtml

Additionally, I wanted to update everyone that I will be attending Cincinnati Comic Expo in less than two weeks – from September 22-23. I want to shout out a special thanks to our friend Kevin Dugan, who made us aware of this convention. The headline to this story is that Stephen Bissette and I will reunite for the very first time since our Eisner and Bram Stoker Award-winning book, “ALIENS: TRIBES.”Stephen and I will do a panel on that book, which was revolutionary for graphic novel publishing, and still holds up today.

ALIENS: TRIBES by Stephen Bissette and Dave Dorman

Additionally, Stephen Bissette was my classmate and fellow “Kubie” at The Joe Kubert School of Comic and Graphic Art, so he and I will do a panel on our fond remembrances and appreciation of Joe Kubert. Here is the tribute art that Neal Adams did of Joe Kubert’s graduates – I was honored to be in the piece, and Stephen Bissette stands beside me. Jan Duursema and Tom Mandrake were also in our class.

Dave Dorman, Top Left, Next to Stephen Bissette in Neal Adams Tribute to Joe Kubert

I was saddened to see a lot of “trolls” disrespecting Joe Kubert, his students, and his school on Stephen’s blog, and we will address those controversial comments as well. I can assure you that Joe Kubert always thought of his students first, as was evidenced when he cut me loose during my first portfolio review; Joe felt that I had “graduated” in terms of what I could learn there. I wanted to learn to paint covers, and since I attended during their second year of operation, they weren’t set up to teach me color work. Joe could have continued to collect tuition from me, but Joe Kubert put me and my career needs first, ahead of the much-needed tuition in the early days. (I also want to mention that Stephen Bissette is also reuniting with his “Swamp Thing” collaborators for the first time during a panel at Cincinnati Comic Expo, so attendees may want to see that as well).

In other news, I’m assistant coaching my young son’s flag football team, and that has been a lot of fun. Many of you know that football was my sport at Friendly, MD high school in the late ’70s; I played defensive end in my junior year on the team that won the state championship, the first in our history. Those were heady times, fondly remembered.

On October 6th at 2 p.m., I will be signing at the Barnes & Noble in West Dundee, IL, helping the patrons celebrate STAR WARS DAY. If you live in the Chicagoland/Northern Illinois area, I hope you can come out and join us.

On October 26 – 28, I will be exhibiting at Geek Media Expo in Franklin, Tennessee and I hope that those of you who live in the area can come out and see me. While you’re there, be sure to check out my friend Leonardo Ramirez’ steampunk children’s book, “JUPITER CHRONICLES.”  Joining us will be Michael Koske, my wife Denise’s client, who is a “walker” or zombie on AMC TV’s WALKING DEAD series. Michael is in the brotherhood we know as the 501st, and we look forward to seeing him again after Star Wars Celebration VI.

That’s all the news for today. I thank you for your time, interest and support.

Dave.

New Dave Dorman Art: See it Live Tonight at Rotofugi!

Dear Friends,

I’m finishing up the last painting for my show, opening tonight at Rotofugi. It is FREE to come to the gallery and see my art and join me at tonight’s opening. For those of you with GPS, they’re located at 2780 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614. For those who can only make it into town for C2E2, please join me next Friday, April 13th for a special C2E2 Weekend showing at 7 p.m. – 10 p.m.

Here’s one of a few new pieces of art I’m exhibiting tonight at the show – this piece I’ve called AHAB’s WIFE and it’s oil and acrylic on canvas, 24″ x 36″. Let me know what you think of it.

AHAB's WIFE by Dave Dorman 2012

Here’s a sneak peek of the online catalog from Rotofugi with sizes, pricing and availability of each painting: http://www.rotofugi.com/gallery/exhibits/2012-dorman/

Here is a link to my Pi a la Mode Art Catalog, signed by me: http://davedorman.com/picatalogue.shtml

I hope you can join us tonight…or next Friday night during C2E2. I am dedicating this show to my wife, Denise Dorman, whose support, promotion and enthusiasm for my work is unyielding. As always, I thank all of you for your support and interest in my art.

Dave.

The Problem with Today’s Comics According to a 30-Year Comic Book Veteran Artist

Dear Friends,

I read a post other day on the problem with the comics industry, which triggered me to write this blog today. I wanted to share with you what I think has retarded the growth of today’s American comic book publishing industry. Those of you who have read my autobiography Rolling Thunder: The Art of Dave Dorman know my history with comics. For those who haven’t, here’s the truncated version:

I started reading comics back in the ’60s as a kid growing up in Hawaii on Hickam Air Force Base. My older brother Jeff got me hooked on them. We lived in Foster Village, and he and I would trek to the local drug store to pick up Marvel and DC self-contained stories. I loved them. Jack Kirby, Jim Steranko…those were the halcyon days. Comics, a truly American art form, was already limiting itself by offering fans mostly super hero fantasies.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

…”I stopped reading American super hero comics in the late ’80s.” — Dave Dorman, Inkpot and Eisner Award-winning comic book artist and 30-year Veteran

______________________________________________________________________________________________

You will be surprised to learn that although I’ve painted many a cover, I stopped reading American super hero comics in the late ’80s. Why? Because that was when the publishers started hyper-serializing their storytelling. Notice the synopsis in the front of any Marvel comic today and you’ll see what I mean. When I have to read 10 years’ worth of story bible to understand what’s happening in this issue, you’ve lost me as a fan.

American comic book publishers gambled on serialized story addicts. They didn’t bank on alienating older readers and the next generation(s) of readers, but that’s what happened. And before you suggest that the super hero movies create a bump in comic book sales and therefore must be enticing a new generation of fans, do your research. Study after study has proven this untrue.

Here’s what I’m spending my entertainment fund on these days (and every Wednesday):

Hellboy — by a friend, Mike Mignola — mini-serialized — no 100-issue story arc here, folks!

B.P.R.D. — again, by Mike Mignola

Lieutenant Blueberry — by Moebius/Jean Giraud

Akira—by Katsuhiro Otomo

All works by creators Francois Schuiten and Enki Bilal

The Tin Tin series —by Belgian artist Georges Rémi who wrote under the pen name of Herge’.

The Asterix series—by  Rene’ Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo (who also took over writing the series after Goscinny’s death in 1977

The Blacksad series by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido

These foreign books, while often a series, tend to be more self-contained and easily read individually without requiring the new reader to have info on previous story lines or character development. International comics are often more accessible to the general market than our American comics. We need to change what we’re doing here. I’m pleased to see indie publishers like Archaia publishing foreign books here to deliver the fans something eclectic and interesting.

Let me know what you’re reading. Tell me what I’m missing. I’m listening.

Dave.

Dave Dorman Upcoming Convention Appearances & Autograph Signings

Dear Friends,

Here’s a quick look at my upcoming appearances for the next couple of months. I am embedding links to the shows for your convenience.

AUGUST:

8/12 – 8/13 —Wizard World – Chicago/Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont

SEPTEMBER:

9/24-9/25–Detroit Fan Fare

OCTOBER:

10/8 – 10/9–Star Wars Fan Days in Dallas

10/14 – 10/16 — SteamCon in Seattle

A SPECIAL THANKS:

I want to thank everyone who came by to see me at my San Diego Comic-Con Booth 4500 this year! A special thanks to our friends the Watson family from Batavia, IL for joining us this year, to the Lindgren family in Rancho Santa Fe and the Crane family in Riverside for showing us Canyon Lake…!

Dave Dorman at SDCC 2011: Photo by Debbie M. Lindgren

 

NEWS:

I discovered I’m in Morgan Spurlock’s new book Comic-Con IV: A Fan’s Hope (see me featured on Page 99) and I hope to make it into his movie, but we’ll see. They filmed my interview last year. My art is featured in Andrew Gaska’s new Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes by Archaia and I have a couple of other book surprises coming up that I cannot share yet…

This year Steven Spielberg was given an Inkpot Award at San Diego Comic-Con, so now he’s in an elite group with me (ha!). I won my last year, so this may be the one and only time in my life that I ever one-up Steven Spielberg.

My friend Andrew Charon of Acme Digital Laboratories in Minneapolis, a Webby  award-winning developer who did YearbookYourself.com and who just launched the really cool Jewish Sudoku game Judoku as an Apple iPad app, is developing my iPhone/iPad app of art staring in August, so be watching for that in the coming months. Andrew is a longtime cohort of my wife’s and together they have done some really cool and award-winning multimedia and video projects.

I have a few of my first-ever sketchbooks remaining from my one-and-only 250 print run, so if anyone wants to place an order, they are $10 plus $5 shipping and you can email me at dormanart@yahoo.com or Paypal me at dormanart@yahoo.com. A special thanks to my wife and publicist Denise Dorman of WriteBrain Media, who keeps all of these plates spinning on the cue sticks.

As always, I thank you for your support and interest in my work. Lots of fun and exciting stuff coming up this fall…stay tuned!

Dave.

Me on SOCIAL MEDIA:

Follow me on Twitter: @DaveDorman and my hashtag is #DaveDorman

Follow me on Facebook.com/DaveDorman

Connect with me on Linkedin.com/in/thedavedorman

To schedule me for media interviews, please contact my wife and publicist denise@writebrainmedia.com | facebook.com/writebrainmedia or Twitter.com/writebrainmedia

A Press Release Regarding A New Member of My Team

Dear Friends,

I ‘ve recently hired Young Social Media from Hollywood, California to handle my online reputation management, social media and branding. I am embedding that press release below, just to make it official here on my blog.  My wife will still be handling my media relations work supplemental to the work Jacob is doing for us. For the record, my wife wrote this release, so please don’t think that I’m this full of myself. Okay, here’s the release:

Comic Book Legend Dave Dorman Names Hollywood’s

Jacob Young Social Media His Agency of Record

Chicago, IL and Hollywood, CA – September 26, 2010 – Dave Dorman, the Eisner Award-winning artist voted the #1 Star Wars Artist of All Time by the fans and world renowned for his dynamic cover art for Indiana Jones, Batman, G.I. Joe and every licensed character in pop culture, is pleased to name Hollywood, California-based Jacob Young Social Media as his social media and branding agency of record.

“Young Social Media has a proven track record of online reputation management and SEO strategy that aligns with my business needs,” Dorman explained. “My team is very excited to apply the energy, enthusiasm and fresh ideas from Jacob to our business success.”  Said Jacob K. Young, “Dave Dorman is more than an award-winning artist, more than one of the founding fathers of modern pop culture. He is the very definition of an American Icon. You’d be a fool to say no if asked to work with him.  If you love what you’ve seen him do so far, then get ready to fall in love all over again.”

Dorman’s 2010 string of successes have ranged from being named a VIP guest at San Diego Comic-Con and winning the prestigious Inkpot Award to launching his critically acclaimed new book, ROLLING THUNDER: THE ART OF DAVE DORMAN (IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing), now available in book retailers nationwide. During the August 2010 Star Wars Celebration 5, Dark Horse Comics named Dorman the cover artist for the final chapter in their Star Wars “Crimson Empire” series, which was news long awaited by the fans. Dorman is also being heavily courted by numerous publishers and videogame developers over his own intellectual property, a motorcycle western action adventure called The Wasted Lands.

Dorman is equally excited about his new charitable art project “52,” which he discussed on a recent episode of The Dennis Miller Radio Show. Dorman is painting 52 individual military pieces of art honoring the men and women in uniform who defend our country. These paintings will be published in a new book with proceeds going to USACares.org. Said Dorman, “I grew up in a military family, so it is my honor and privilege to give something back to our military families.”

For more information on Dorman, please visit DaveDorman.com, WastedLands.com, his blog https://davedorman.wordpress.com and his podcast on pop culture and the comics industry, http://www.itscomicbookday.com.

Media Contact:
Jacob K. Young
Phone: (512) 522-6230
Email: Jacob@davedorman.com

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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

Comix Academy is Open for Business!

Hi Everyone,

Thanks to all of you who read about our new endeavor, Comix Academy. I just checked and the Web site is officially up, so feel free to go on there and check it out: http://www.comixacademy.com.

Tomorrow I’ll have some exciting news to share with you about who will be sharing my booth this year at San Diego Comic-Con.

Thanks for reading,
Dave.