Dave Dorman Updates: May the Fourth Be With You

Hi Everyone,

I hope you all took advantage of FREE COMIC BOOK DAY this past weekend. I took my 5-year-old son to a comic book store in Geneva, Illinois where he excitedly picked up  Iron Man and Transformers comics – I picked up the latest B.P.R.D. comic, which never disappoints.

I don’t have a lot of news to report, except to say that I have completed the 7-page comic for Magic: The Gathering’s online sequential art series, and I am hard at work on some art for publisher Howard Feltman.  I am also working on the graphic novel project for SoGoPro, still in its early stages.

This past weekend, my wife and I finalized copy on the new book from IDW/Desperado Publishing on my art career, “Rolling Thunder: The Art of Dave Dorman.” It was a lot of work, but a labor of love. I hope you all enjoy seeing the work in my private collection, much of which has never before been seen by the public. This book is about as “insider” as it gets. You can pre-order it Amazon via this link: http://www.amazon.com/Rolling-Thunder-Art-Dave-Dorman/dp/1600106730/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272921491&sr=8

For those of you who didn’t know my background before reading this new book, much of my art will begin to make sense in a new way like  it never has before.

As for our new “Wednesday is Comic Book Day” podcast, we have 3 episodes “in the can,” according to producer Michael Mennenga. Summer Brooks is hard at work pulling together the special Web site just for the podcast, which will be available as a free download via iTunes. If anyone has questions or comments about our podcast, or guest suggestions, please call the podcast hotline at 206.350.6326 or email my wife at denise@writebrainmedia.com.

I offer up a special thanks to fan, attorney Mickey K. Thompson, who created a FaceBook page “Fans of Dave Dorman Art.” I really appreciate his kindness. I also appreciate the kindnesses shown to me by attorney Zane Zielinski and Kalamazoo, Michigan comic book store owner Tom Fleming. It was great to reconnect with these guys again at C2E2. Tom ended up buying an iconic piece from me, and if I can’t own it, I’m glad it’s owned by someone who really loves it as much as I do.

As always, thank you for reading. Your interest in my work is what keeps me going.

May the Fourth Be With You…

Dave.

P.S. Follow me on Twitter: @DaveDorman, friend me on FaceBook, link with me on LinkedIn, or join Fans of Dave Dorman Art on FaceBook.

Dave Dorman’s C2E2 Recap

Hi Everyone,

Well, this past weekend was quite an experience.  First, I want to say a special thanks to my wife Denise’s cousin, who owns a condo across from Chicago’s Art Institute. We spent Thursday evening there with her, and it was ideal for getting to my early Friday morning Mancow radio interview on time.

As Denise and I waited in Mancow Muller’s green room, Darrell Hammond of Saturday Night Live fame came strolling in for an interview with Mancow and Max Brooks. Here’s some trivia for you: Darrell Hammond had the longest run on SNL – 14 years. He was hilarious as usual, and in combination with Max Brooks, a former SNL writer for 2 years, it was a really great interview. Darrell’s Al Sharpton impression slayed me. When Darrell left, I entered Mancow’s lair with Max and Mancow.  It turns out, I need to hit the gym. Mancow noted immediately how much I looked like Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons. Ouch.

Mancow arranged a bit where Max and I identified Star Wars sound f/x. My wife says Max won this contest, but I like to call it a draw. Mancow drew out of me a story I wasn’t prepared to tell:  The Keith Moon story. For those of you who don’t know it already, it’s a lot to write, but I’ll write it out for you one day. It will also be documented in my new book “Rolling Thunder: The Art of Dave Dorman” by IDW/Desperado Publishing, coming out this summer (shameless plug, I know).  Anyhow, before I forget, be sure to get Max Brooks’ wonderful books: “The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead,” and “World War Z.” He’s a great writer and we all need to be supporting great writers, especially since the latest study shows that graphic novel sales dipped this past year. My hope is that the iPad and its sister digital readers will correct this.

So…C2E2 was a great show for me personally. I’ve heard mixed reviews from publishers and artists, but I liked the location, the show organizers (Reed), and the comfortable room with abundant natural light, ideal for viewing everyone’s gorgeous illustration work. I want to say thank you to all of the 501st brethren who stopped by – it means a lot to have all of your support.  I’m an honorary member of the Midwest Garrison, which I don’t take lightly.  A special thank you to my friends from the comic book store in Kalamazoo, MI and also  SketchMaven.com for dropping by as well. It’s always good to put faces to names.  I will be selling some of my original art on the SketchMaven.com site, so be sure to check them out, and I’ll post it here as well.

Some attendees were confused by the fact that C2E2 was held at the same time as KBIS, the Kitchen & Bath show,  in McCormick Place.  My wife used to work the KBIS show for GROHE and created some video comedy bits for Hansgrohe with Mancow’s former producer, Jocko Hedblade (see how small of a world it can be?) so she was doubly confused by the convergence  of her two disparate worlds. More trivia: The El Jocko cigar is named for Jocko Hedblade, for those of you cigar afficionados.

While at C2E2, I purchased a couple of books from an old favorite – Archaia – I bought “The Killer Volume 2” and “Okko Volume 1.” I also bought “The Seven Swords,” a relatively new and very cool Hong Kong Samurai-style action flick I’ve been eager to own.

We were lucky to break bread with Mike Kennedy, the creator of videogame “Unbound Saga,” and his lovely wife Liz, who is a gifted editor. It was also great to connect with Charlie Athanas, Jim Tampa of Medallion Press and Kevin Sandstrom of Blick Art Supply.

Current projects this week include closing out a project for Magic: The Gathering, roughs for SoGoPro’s graphic novel project with Charlie Athanas, commissioned art for indie comic book creator Howard Feltman, and finishing up my aforementioned art book for IDW/Desperado Publishing.  I’m also wrapping my head around the implications of tonight’s episode of LOST, and for those of you who love it like we do, we will be very bummed when the series ends. We are recording our “Wednesday is Comic Book Day” podcast tomorrow, but I’m unsure when it will be posted, so check with me here on that.

Thanks to everyone for reading. I hope you’re all having a good week. If anyone has questions you’d like for me  to answer on the podcast, please call and leave a message on the podcast hotline at (206) 350-6326. I realize I’m opening us up for all of Denise’s crazy friends to prank us, but hopefully some normal questions will get through.

Dave.

Dave Dorman in Spectrum 16 and More

Hi Everyone,

As always, thank you for your continuing interest in my latest hijinks. As many of you have heard from the SoGoPro Podcast, I am working with actress Hilarie Burton, her partner and One Tree Hill producer Kelly Tenney and writer Nick Gray on a forthcoming graphic novel. The plans are starting to gel now, so the graphic artist they’ve chosen will be slingin’ lead on paper any moment now.

I’m still working with Denise Gideon, the moderator on the One Tree Hill and SoGoPro podcast, along with her colleague Andrea (forgive me – don’t know her last name yet but will soon) about getting my podcast moving along, so this has been a whirlwind week.

My Spectrum 16 came in the mail this week, and my full page piece of Damali Richards battling the tentacled creature is on page 81.

Watch for my interview in an upcoming issue of Imagine F/X magazine. When I have a solid date, I’ll let you know.

I want to thank everyone who reached out to me when I was on The Dennis Miller Radio Show. It was a lot of fun, and I appreciate all of your feedback. We were thrilled to raise more than $1k for USACares.org with the Transformers painting I donated to support Dennis Miller’s favorite charity. Yes, Dennis IS a great guy, even while off the air. My wife marvels that I’m the only person she knows who gets ALL of his obscure commentary. I’ve been a fan of his for probably 25 years, and I listen to him and Christian Bladt daily, so it was great fun to discover that he’s just as cool off the air as on. (Good thing he doesn’t overlap with Howard Stern!)

Thank you also to those fans who found me in Texas a couple of weekends ago during Star Wars fan days. It was great seeing all of you, many who were familiar faces. MegaCon has also asked me to be their special guest this year, and I look forward to some Florida sunshine. I’m hoping to get more involved in Chicago’s C2E2 as well, so watch for news on this. As always, I’ll be at San Diego Comic-Con. Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel.

I wanted to mention quickly, I saw “Astro Boy” with my son last weekend and it was a lot of fun, so check it out if you’re a longtime fan of Astro Boy like me. I finally sat through “Twilight” last week at my wife’s insistence, and it wasn’t half bad. I figured I’d better, since she will be dragging me to see “New Moon” (rolling my eyeballs as I write this) when it opens.

Again, I thank you for your interest and I hope to see you somewhere soon,

Dave.