November 25, 2003

New Image Added to the Gallery

Here's a pinup I did for Derek Fridolfs' upcoming series Kidd Bonzai and the Bot. Click here for larger image.

Derek had this to say about the series: "It's an all ages tale about an orphan human boy that grows up in a city built by and for robots. I originally had a short intro story for it printed in the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's "More Fund" anthology book fundraiser, and it eventually led to companies being interested in the concept. And now, it's going to be published in early 2004 as a 4-issue comic book series (and TPB collection at the end), for AP Comics... a publisher over in the UK. Needless to say, I'm extremely excited."

You can read more about Kidd Bonzai at www.entervoid.com/kidd.

November 20, 2003

Vancouver Comicon Report

A few weeks ago, I emailed Vancouver Comicon's organizer Leonard Wong to enquire about the convention. I was delighted when he answered by inviting me to be a special guest at the November show.

We arrived at the site of the convention at 10:00am on Sunday, November 16th. The event was set in a beautiful historical building in Vancouver's uptown called the Heritage Hall, designed by famed architect Archibald Campbell Hope. With coffees in hand, we set up our display while chatting with other exhibitors. The atmosphere was friendly and relaxed. At 11:00am the doors opened to the public and a nice size crowd walked in. Our table was visited by many animation students and professionals who were eager to discuss the industry. It was fun meeting one of my old pal from Sheridan College, Andy Bartlett.

At the table next to us were talented artist/writer Steve Rolston and his blue haired girlfriend Sabina. Steve was promoting his new graphic novel One Bad Day and several of his projects.

The convention's doors closed at 5:00pm. Considering that the number of attendees was probably around 300 - 400, we did extremely well in terms of sales. Everyone was very nice and I had fun doing sketches.

After the con, we went for a drink with renowned animator Lance Taylor. We discussed animation and comics and both agreed that Nausicaa: Valley of The Wind is the greatest graphic novel ever written.

At 7:00pm, Nancy and I met up with Leonard, Steve & Sabina, Doug Wheatley and Kaare Andrews. Leonard graciously treated us to dinner at an all-you-can-eat suchi restaurant. It was delicious!

Later, we all went to Doug's hotel room to have a look at his amazing artwork. This guy is a major talent! His original comic pages were so beautiful - I just kept staring in awe! I was delighted to get one of his masterpieces for my personal collection. Making the choice on which page to get was not an easy task but I finally settled on this one from Superman: The last stand on Krypton (Click on image for a larger view).

For the remainder of the evening, we went bar hoping. I got plastered while Nancy, being the designated driver, remained sober.

Before returning home, we all headed to Steve and Sabina's apartment. I was once again thrilled to add another excellent piece to my evergrowing collection with one of Steve's pages from his graphic novel One Bad Day (click on image for a larger view)! I tell you, it felt like Christmas!

We'll definitely be back!

November 15, 2003

Press Release

Michel Gagné Unveils "Parables: An Anthology" in February

Bellingham, WA, November 2003 - Gagné International Press will release Parables: An Anthology in February 2004. This collected edition will reprint Gagné's first four books in one single volume.

Four times Annie Award Nominee Michel Gagné is well known for his animation and design work on movies such as The Iron Giant, Osmosis Jones and more recently, the Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series. His quirky art books, such as Insanely Twisted Rabbits and Frenzied Fauna: From A to Z, have earned him a worldwide following.

Parables: An Anthology will collect Gagné’s sold out and highly sought-after limited edition storybooks: A Search for Meaning: The Story of Rex (B&W edition), The Mystery of He, The Great Shadow Migration and The Bird, the Spider and the Octopus. Although there have been several requests to reprint some of the individual volumes, it was not an option for Gagné. "We didn’t feel it would be fair to the collectors who own those books", he said. "We wanted to make sure that the original editions would remain unique. We thought that a compilation would be the perfect compromise: keep the collectors happy while introducing the material to a wider audience. These stories are very close to my heart and I’m delighted to bring them back in print."

Parables: An Anthology will be printed on high grade cream paper; will feature a special introduction by Gagné and a pencil sketch gallery. It will solicit through Diamond in December's Previews and will be available simultaneously in soft and hard cover. It will retail at $18.95 and $26.95 respectively.

For more information visit www.gagneint.com.

November 10, 2003

Special Guest at Vancouver Comicon - Sunday, November 16th

I'm really excited about this event. This is my very first signing in my native country! All my books will be available at a nice discount and I'll be sketching for anyone who brings a sketchpad. This should be a lot of fun! So, if you live in the Pacific Northwest, don't miss out! Here's some info about the con:

Time: Sunday, November 16th - 11 AM to 5 PM
Location: Heritage Hall, 3102 Main Street (Main & 15th Ave.), Vancouver, BC.

Special Guests:

Doug Wheatley, artist of Star Wars Episode III Movie Adaptation, Superman: Last Stand on Krypton, Star Wars: Darklighter, Superman: Last Son Of Earth.
Steve Rolston, creator of One Bad Day. Penciller of Mek, Pounded, Queen and Country.
Michel Gagné, writer/illustrator of Insanely Twisted Rabbits, Frenzied Fauna: from A to Z, A Search For Meaning: The Story of Rex, Zed, Detective Comics. Designer/animator for Star Wars: Clone Wars, The Iron Giant, An American Tail, Osmosis Jones, Space Jam.
Ralph Alfonso, creator of Ralph.
Andy Mori, creator of Flopnik.
Robin Thompson, artist of Champions of Hell, Captain Spaceman.
Ken Boesem, creator of Barking Raven Press.
Trevor Metz, creator of Crossfire.
Kelly Everaert, creator of Trilogy of Terror.

Free comics and hourly door prizes!!

Admission: $3 (kids under 14 free)

For information about this show, please call 604-322-6412, e-mail lswong@uniserve.com or visit http://users.uniserve.com/~lswong/Comicon.html.

November 8, 2003

The Story Behind Prelude to Eden

I started Prelude to Eden in 1991 after coming back to America from a 4-year stint in Ireland working for Don Bluth Animation Studios. I’d just transferred back to the LA branch and I was pretty depressed. I was looking for an outlet to give some kind of meaning to my life. Some people join churches and organizations, me, I just immersed myself into this project for 4 ½ years.

Click here to read the entire story.

November 5, 2003

Clone Wars Premieres on Cartoon Network

As many of you know, I spent several months this year designing the special effects for the Star Wars: Clone Wars animated short films. The series is just about to air and I'm anxious to see how it turned out. Here is the schedule released by Cartoon Network for the first ten episodes:

Cartoon Network will broadcast Star Wars: Clone Wars, the epic micro-series that continues the Star Wars saga where Attack of the Clones left off, beginning Friday, November 7, at 8:00pm (ET/PT).

The first ten chapters of the series will debut on weekdays at 8:00p.m (ET/PT), running from November 7 through November 20, and Cartoon Network will air the first ten chapters in order on Friday, November 21, interspersed throughout the evening's broadcast of its Fridays primetime franchise (7:00pm to 12:00am ET/PT). The next ten episodes will debut in the spring of 2004.

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