Atomic Robo; I Love That Guy!

Well this should be relatively short, because the Project What Shant Be Named has got me so fatigued I’m hallucinating. A page a day is brutal –especially when I’m determined to make these the best pages I’ve ever done.

All in all this thing that I may or may not be doing has been a wonderful experience. I’ve noticed another jump in quality and speed of production.

Can’t wait to finally talk about it

The Boston ComiCon was fantastic (again). I didn’t get to sit next to the amazing bathroom this time though. Instead I was in some room in the way, way, WAY back with a bunch of other artist. Even so I was slammed all day long. Pages were sold, sketches were drawn, and 95% of my Atomic Robo #1 stock was sold –at least half of it to retailers whose stores had run out of copies the first week they’d carried the book. Dave and I sat next to Clay Masta Andy Wiernicki and he even busted out a sculpt of Robo’s head! (pics below) He was referencing Issue #1and I have to say, tis kind of embarrassing how goofy and bug-eyed Robo was last October when I first drew him. I’ll have to send Andy some better reference for future work.

So yeah, pretty damn happy about that.

And remember, Atomic Robo #3 is still available for pre-order (Atomic Robo #3: OCT073752), and I *think* stores can start re-ordering #2 now also.

In other news, The Widget turned 7 last week and we had the party on Saturday. Dorinda officially qualifies for Super-Awesome-Wonder-Mom 2007. The woman ran a cotton candy machine and organized a gaggle of little girls all hopped up on sugar for 2 hours, nearly single-handed. (Though with much help from Aunt Chicken [don’t ask].) Gran and Uncle Dave drove up from NYC for the event, though Uncle Matt was off on a cruise and couldn’t make it.

Have I ever told you guys about Matt? He’s awesome. He’s also a giant pain in the ass, but its not PC to say shit like that about the mentally handicapped. But its true anyway. So Matt is the middle kid and lives in a group home on Staten Island’ where he leads a fairly independent life, thought with 24hr supervision. He works in a nursery owned by the city, but doesn’t get paid for it. Instead he collects a Social Security check because he’s considered to be 100% disabled.

That goofy motherfucker goes on more cruises, trips to Atlantic City, movies, concerts, and State functions than anyone I know. He’s like the Bruce Wayne of the Special Olympics.

In many ways Matt is what I consider to be the pinnacle of human evolution. He sort of just stopped maturing at the mental age of about 13. His main joys in life are horror movies, comic books, and video games. He is gentle and polite, and even though he is physically 29yrs old, I still think of him as “Just a really good kid.”

He’s also one cunning bastard. I believe he is well aware of his own limitations and he can sniff out a sucker like other people’s dogs always seem to know I’m deathly allergic and so opt to be my “special friend” for the day when we visit. If there is something boring that Matt does not want to do (like laundry, or taking out the trash) he does what I like to call, “Cranking up the ‘tard.”

He plays the “oblivious handicapped guy” role to the hilt until you get so pissed off that you just go and do whatever the hell it was that you wanted him to do in the first place.

So that’s Matt. God bless ‘im.

Ookay that’s all for today. It was GREAT seeing everyone that turned up for the Boston show. Especially Shane ;sorry again for ripping your head off when you posted about that thing that I’m not doing and that no one can find on the internet with about 5 seconds of effort.

Hope to see some of you guys at Larry’s on Friday for another Atomic Robo signing! Here is the full press release:

LOWELL, MA - Larry’s Comics of Lowell, MA, will host two exciting in-
store signings on Friday, Oct. 26, and Saturday, Oct. 27, as part of
the store’s 19th Annual Halloween Party. “Everyone is invited,” said
owner Larry Doherty, “so dress ‘comicky!’”

Atomic Robo artist Scott Wegener will be on hand from 5 to 7 p.m. on
Friday, Oct. 26; and Dan Leister, artist on “Grimm Fairy Tales:
Return to Wonderland” from Zenescope Entertainment, will be appearing
on Saturday, Oct. 27, from 12 to 4 p.m. A new exclusive variant
edition of “Return to Wonderland #4″ will also premiere during the
Leister signing on Saturday.

“Atomic Robo” is the comic book industry’s lated break-out success
story. Written by Brian Clevinger, “Atomic Robo #1″ has been greeted
by near-universal acclaim from both readers and the comic book press.
The series chronicles the two-fisted adventures of a heroic robot
invented in 1923 by Nikola Tesla.

Wegener, a resident of New Hampshire, once worked as a pilot, but
left that field to pursue his dream of becoming a comic book artist.
Less than two years later, his art is generating major buzz, with
talk of a second printing for the first issue of “Atomic Robo” .

Zenescope quickly attained success publishing material based on the
popular “Seven” and “Re-Animator” films, among a variety of other
titles. The “Grimm Fairy Tales” series offers a mature-readers take
on classic fairy tales. Striking a chord with fans of adult horror
comics, the series offers a new twist on these classic stories.
Leister illustrates the publisher’s first Grimm spin-off, “Return to
Wonderland,” which re-imagines Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland” for a modern, adult audience.

Leister previously collaborated with writer Michael Dolce on a book
called “The Sire.” That got him noticed by writer Raven Gregory of
Zenescope Entertainment. A short contribution to the “Grimm Fairy
Tales Annual” resulted in an offer to take over as artist on the
publisher’s “Return to Wonderland” spin-off.

“Working with Zenescope has been wonderful,” said Leister. “Raven and
I are having a blast working on ‘Wonderland’ and can’t wait to work
on the next series, ‘Escape from Wonderland,’ which will be based
loosely on ‘Through the Looking Glass.’”

The Oct. 27th appearance actually marks a return to the Lowell, MA,
comic shop for Leister. He visited the store in the past while
promoting “The Sire,” and owner Doherty is thrilled to have him back.
“The ‘Grimm” books have been very popular with our customers, and
we’re excited that Dan got the gig at Zenescope,” he said. “We’re
happy to be inviting him back to celebrate his success with ‘Return
to Wonderland.’”

Larry’s Comics will also be offering an exclusive variant edition of
“Return to Wonderland #4,” limited to just 1,000 copies. This is a
great chance for adult fans to get their hands on one of the rarest
collectibles in this popular series and to have it signed by the artist.

“We’re really excited to be working with Larry on this exclusive,”
said Zenescope founder Ralph Tedesco. “He’s supported our books from
day 1, and we think this is a great opportunity to offer a fantastic
variant to his loyal customers and our incredible fans.”

For younger readers, Larry’s will be giving away copies of “The Sire
#1″ during the signing.

Larry’s Comics is located at 66 Lakeview Ave. in Lowell, MA. Please
visit the store’s web site at www.larryscomics.net for more information.

The Force.net exposes the horde of Star Wars fans to Atomic Robo.

Atomic Robo on Word Balloons.

Katana –vs- Browning M2 –let it load, then skip forward to about 4:45 minutes. Its freaking amazing.

For some reason my camera won’t focus on this thing, and I tried everything I could think of!

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Its sad. But true.

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That’s just hawt.

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So there’s this ring my wife really wants me to buy her. And I’m sure I eventually will. But its hard when this image really sums up my feelings on the diamond industry.

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So is it mroe pathetic to be laughable in real life, or ont he internet?