Happy Father’s Day & Other Dave Dorman News

Dear Friends,

Happy Father’s Day to all of you dads out there. For me, being a dad is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done and if you’re waffling about doing it and you’re a responsible human, I highly recommend it. Here’s a recent photo of Jack and me from Pensacon, taken by our photographer friend Fred Turnbow:

A fan at Indy PopCon came up to my booth a couple of weekends ago wearing this tee:

Dave Dorman Artwork on New T-Shirt Being Sold by Disney

…and he was kind enough to send me one. It’s in Disney stores and the t-shirt maker is a company called Mad Engine. This art is a segment of my Star Wars Celebration V (5) art, from a painting called “A Slight Disturbance in the Force.”  Here is the original for your recollection:

Dave Dorman Star Wars Celebration 5 Art: “A Slight Disturbance in the Force”

A special thanks to everyone who came out to see me at Star Wars Library Day in Joliet, Illinois – the world’s largest Star Wars Library event, now in its 5th year. It was a lot of fun and gratifying to see my Midwestern Star Wars family.

Next up on my convention schedule is Capital City Con in Austin, TX July 11, 12 and 13. I hope to reconnect with our friends who are like family –the Nick & Michele Iozzo family, and cousins Dan and Sue Bailey in Austin as well as Bernie Wrightson. You can count on my wife to do her level best to “Keep Austin Weird.”

We found some old photos I took in the 1970s of Bernie Wrightson and his contemporaries, including Jeffrey Catherine Jones, Barry Windsor-Smith, Walt Simonson and more. I think you’ll enjoy seeing them as I scan them in and post them here.

Also in July, you will see me at San Diego Comic-Con, Booth #4500 July 23 – 27. I am especially excited this year to launch my new WASTED LANDS OMNIBUS book by Magnetic Press and Mike Kennedy. Click here to pre-order: http://www.magnetic-press.com/wasted-lands-omnibus/

WASTED LANDS OMNIBUS: by Magnetic Press, Launching at SDCC 2014

We will have books to sell and sign at our booth as well as the Magnetic Press Booth. I don’t have a Booth # for Magnetic Press yet, but they are located in Publisher’s Row between Taschen and Last Gasp, behind Random House.

Joining me will be my WASTED LANDS rep and producer Scott Faye, and a portion of the booth will be shared by Stephen D. Smith, who did the wonderfully successfully Kickstarter campaign for the very first English translation of the book, The Leaning Girl, and we will have one of my favorite artists, Francois Schuiten and writer Benoit Peeters in our booth.  Here is the cover art for that book:

The Leaning Girl by Alaxis Press/Stephen D. Smith, Publisher – 1st English Translation

If you are on social media, please join me here and please connect with me here & spread the word:

http://facebook.com/davedormansstudio

http://facebook.com/davedormanwastedlands

http://linkedin/com/in/thedavedorman

http://twitter.com/davedorman

I am also on Reddit and if any of you want me to do a live Q & A there or a Tweet Chat on Twitter, just let me know and I’ll get it set up.

Also, you may want to check out my wife Denise Dorman’s blog, for a rare peek behind the curtain of life in the Dorman Household: http://comicbookwife.com. She is making me homemade potato salad for Father’s Day, which is a treat for me.

Thanks for reading & have a great day!

Dave.

Dave Dorman July Updates

Dear Friends,

My longtime friend Stephen D. Smith of Alaxis Press is thisclose to reaching his Kickstarter goal of $30k for the first-ever approved English version of “The Leaning Girl” by one of my favorite graphic novel publishing teams, Francois Schuiten and and Benoit Peeters – here’s a link if you’re interested in supporting this book. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/51096880/the-leaning-girl-translated-graphic-novel-project

Additionally, IDW Publishing has just announced my new 1-in-10 variant President Obama cover art for their new book, “The Other Dead” about a zombified animal kingdom, by Joshua Ortega, Digger T. Mesch and Kevin Eastman. Here it is:

 

As always, thanks for reading – I will be posting more very soon. If you’re attending #SDCC this year, be sure to see me at Booth #4500 and “Like” my fan page for my creator-owned book at https://www.facebook.com/davedormanwastedlands. As for me, I’m looking forward to more “Under the Dome” this week.

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.

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…”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

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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.