arseniclullaby

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THIS WEEKS BLOG

*this weeks comics are below the blog!*

Ops all comics...and Chicago Comicon

Lot's of questions about me getting a new publisher, or A publisher to be more accurate, since up til now I've been self publishing. That'll all be next time because I gotta talk about my appearance at C2E2 in Chicago this weekend, AND both in one blog would be too much even by my standards.

Once again I will be in Chicago at C2E2 Comicon. I looked over the artist Alley roster and it is stacked with talent.

BUT all that matters is Arsenic Lullaby will have a booth.

I'll be there all three days doing sketches, if you want some kinda complicated or larger commission, best you contact me ahead of time, OR let me know early at the show so I can do it and have it done the next day. (If its large or complicated). I like to be able to concentrate a bit on that kinda stuff...more so than one can do with four year olds dressed like superman running past you...or grown adults dressed like superman.

When is that going to end by the way? I thought the cosplaying thing would have burned itself out by now. Once you reach a certain age...it's a bit absurd, is it not? Grown ups cosplaying as crime fighters is no different than if you dressed up like a plumber, when you're not a plumber. Because, you are a grown adult... you could actually go be a vigilante. You could do that, instead of just dressing up like you do and walking around a convention center. There are actual vigilantes...so, it's kind of "stolen valor" when you really think about it. What's his name chocked some mugger on the subway and ended up in jail, and here you are having kids run up to get their picture taken with you, even though you didn't actually do jack sh*t. You didn't earn that cape. You could.

You don't need super powers. The Punisher doesn't have powers, Hawkeye doesn't have powers. Imagine the benefit to the Chicago, if instead of mulling around the convention center...you all drove to the south side and fought crime.

Don't crawl up my butt about the lack of diversity in those photos. You'll be in Chicago, that's a Chicago street gang. Complain to their HR department.

...for legal purposes I'm not saying you should go try to fight criminals. I'm saying you could. At first as I was saying this I was thinking of eventually seeing a viral video of some guy dressed like Spider-Man being stomped by some Latin Kings. But then I thought...holy crap would that not be the greatest day ever for the coroner. Bringing in his buddies "Gentlemen, it is a sad day for the city" and dramatically sliding the drawer open to reveal some dead doughy middle aged cosplayer dressed as Spider-man. "I shall now unmask him! He...IS...some guy with mustard in his beard."

That is going to happen, if it hasn't already. One of you is going to die dressed as a super hero. Hit by a car or natural causes. And there' you'll be. Laid out on a slab dressed as Batman with the coroner and his staff doing doing goofy skits with your cadaver. Taking selfies. One with one of them on their knees holding your limp body in their arms fake crying.

...Customarily, this would be where I give it some thought and come up with something I enjoy that some people would find equally silly, but it's been a rough week. I'm not up for any demoralizing introspection. So, I'm just going to stick with- what they do is silly-, and move on.

All acerbic jokes aside...the entire industry would be well served to...oh...alter their course of going all in on appealing to only the super nerds, and consider ALL the other money out there to be had. It's like this, for example- there are certainly many adults who will pay 50.00 to be in a room dressed like a super hero, and that's great. However there are more that would pay 50.00 to not be in a room with adults dressed like super heroes. That room though, has many things in it they would enjoy.

I'll lead by example...here's how it's done-

C2E2 among other things has somewhere near 500 tables of comic book professionals, up a comers, local artists with great new work! (artist Alley info)

This is your chance to see it first, up close and in person, and meet the actual human beings who do it. There's everyone there from guys who drew the super hero stuff you read as a kid, to people doing the work that's going to be the next TV show or movie...and many are just flat out the best there is. How often do you get a chance to meet someone who is the best at something? See something just before it blows up? Observe a master of their craft? Watch a live artist create work right in front of you?

With more and more artwork being done digitally and where ever A.I. goes, these are demonstrations of skills that you might go away forever...in your lifetime, BUT THIS WEEKEND you can see it, you can be a part of it ...

AT C2E2!

McCormik Place, Chicago Illinois... March 27-29th!

(see?...like that. Then maybe show an example...)

There's pros like Stuart Sayger, who do wild intricate pieces, live. Paint, brushes, markers, the whole bit.

(Stuart's table, apparently so slow he can invest that much time into one piece. Just kidding buddy. Really though, how these guys can even have actual paint and ink wells on their table and not get them knocked over is beyond me. But they do.)

When's the last time you got to see something like that? See the guy or girl who draws Spider-Man or The Walking Dead, actually draw it? That sort of thing'll be happening at C2E2 all over artist alley and like I said...by comic book legends and local artists and people who might be the next big thing. Every art style and comic book genera you can think of is represented. Including of course...indy comic legend types.

(And after you go into all that, you maybe throw something like this in-)

Plus there's, discussion panels on stuff from upcoming projects, t.v. shows, "how to" panels, and more!

C2E2...it is flat out fun and a WELL RUN show. You're not going to be stuck in the rain waiting for them to open their doors. They're organized and get you in fast so can start having fun. C2E2 THIS WEEKEND!

See? You can say stuff like that...Or something...understand the value of what you have and explain it. Then it'll be appealing to more than just the super nerds who are going to go anyway. Just give it some thought, everybody. You got a convention or a store, are you giving anyone a reason to go there, who doesn't care about super heroes but has money to spend on something fun? Because they are out there, and they are legion.

Anyhoo...here's a buncha sketches I've done, and then a buncha Arsenic Lullaby comics. Stop by our booth, get some books, get some art, get some prints, get some for your friends. And if you can't go this year...the online store will also be open.

ARSENIC LULLABY ONLINE STORE
TEMPORARILY OPEN
10.00 off second print with coupon code- 2prints

At cons I am pretty much doing sketches with technical pens...once in awhile a brush pen is involved. Lately I've been adding some red ink wash when the mood strikes.

Usually, people ask for Arsenic Lullaby characters, which I'm happy to do. BUT, I'm not against doing other stuff, just so's you know. In particular, if you had some obscure Marvel villain, I'm always intrigued by low level bad guys. Not enough people remember who The Fixer is, in my opinion.

Or whoever...something I can show off here next week as in "never done one of these before!"

Okay...here's sketches and then some comics from the achieves and Mad Magazine. See some of you at C2E2 and the rest of you Thursday with do's and don'ts of comic book publishing.

Protect your art from AI with Glaze or Nightshade

ARSENIC LULLABY ONLINE STORE
TEMPORARILY OPEN
10.00 off second print with coupon code- 2prints2