Niklas Asker
Art Barrage | The Jane Austen rule
As Jane Austen once wrote, it is a truth universally acknowledged that any illustrator or painter who sticks a Superman emblem or a Catwoman mask in his or her work will probably end up in Art Barrage. The first artist up to prove the point this week is Niklas Asker, who recently posted work from his latest show “Great Expectations.” I like this guy’s style, so I’ve been hoping he’d give me a decent excuse to run one of his paintings. Mission accomplished, Nik. More fine artists dabbling in comic book imagery, and comic book artists making it in fine art and illustration, below — including Jack Dylan, Rob Schwager, Brian M. Viveros, Thomas Pitilli, and plenty others.
What Are You Reading? with Gardner Linn and Dave Lentz
Signs and Meanings
Hello and welcome to What Are You Reading? Today our special guests are Gardner Linn and Dave Lentz, the creative team behind the webcomic Registered Weapon — “the internet’s only webcomic starring a robotic cash register who fights crime.” They just kicked off their latest story, Case 006, on Nov. 12, and you can also download the first ten pages from their site if you prefer to read in bigger chunks.
To see what Gardner, Dave and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below …
Straight for the art | Sean’s David Bowie Sketchbook, MoCCA 2010
David Bowie by Niklas Asker
I’ve been collecting David Bowie sketches from comics artists at shows and cons since MoCCA 2007. What can I say? He’s my favorite superhero. In that time I’ve amassed drawings of the chameleonic musician from 97 different artists, and adding to the collection is always a high priority for me at every show. I had exceptionally good luck at this year’s MoCCA — you better hang on to yourself as we flip through this year’s haul!
Niklas Asker (above): Oh man, look at that, just look at it. How can a sketch be shiny? Niklas Asker pulled it off with maybe the most elegant and sexy Bowie of the batch–no surprise, if you’ve seen his graphic novel Second Thoughts.
My MoCCA haul
Sean's MoCCA 2010 loot
I came to shop.
Seriously, I was just about as excited for this past weekend’s MoCCA festival as I’ve ever been for any comic convention. And it wasn’t because of the guests or the panels or even getting to see so many of my friends and colleagues — it was because of the comics. The best thing about a small-press show is your ability to dig into the tables and come away with enough treasures to keep you reading happily for weeks. Proceeding from the top left of the picture above in as logical a fashion as I can manage, here’s a rundown of my personal treasure trove…
