Herb Trimpe, ace Marvel artist, has passed away

I grew up on Herb Trimpe's art, especially on the Hulk and Godzilla. I've met him a few times at cons and you can see my photos here.

John Romita Sr and Herb Trimpe at Baltimore Comic-Con 2007

Local cartoonist Shannon Gallant memorialized Herb on his blog.

Here's a longer obituary.

VA Comicon for free in Richmond, VA

Press Release:
The VA Comicon kicks off its 26th year by announcing ALL shows in 2012 will be ABSOLUTELY FREE to the public, if you pre-register! If you are receiving this email, then you are in luck! We are offering 1,000 advance tickets to EACH of our five shows FOR FREE. All you have to do is go to www.vacomicon.com and register for the events.
Our show dates in 2012 will all be on Sundays. We already have an all-star line up of creators for each show, but I am THRILLED to announce the return of Herb Trimpe (the co-creator of Wolverine) and Dan Parent (The creator behind Archie Meets KISS) as co-guests of honor at our first ever FREE show on January 15, 2012! Joining him will be Budd Root (Cavewoman), Andy Smith (WWE comics) and many, MANY more!
Future shows (Which you can register for TODAY) will ALSO be free for registered guests. Creators confirmed for other FREE events in 2012 include fan-faves Matt Slay, Steve Conley, John Wycough, James O'Barr (The creator of THE CROW!) and many, MANY more! Again...we have 1,000 FREE tickets avaialable ONLY to people who register for them at http://www.vacomicon.com. When these tickets are gone, we have reached capacity...so register TODAY!
All shows are on Sundays in Richmond, VA at the Crowne Plaza (The same location as our GALA 2-day 25th Anniversary show in 2011!). Here they are:
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Sunday April 1, 2012
Sunday July 8, 2012
Sunday September 16, 2012
Sunday November 18, 2012
Remember, superstars Herb Trimpe and Dan Parent will be at our show in January, joined by Budd Root, Andy Smith and MANY more. Don't get left out...register for FREE tickets today at http://www.vacomicon.com.
Have a GREAT day, and PLEASE pass this message to your friends, we don't want them to be left out! - Brett

Small Press and Vendors:

UPDATE: SMALL PRESS IS SOLD OUT!

8 vendor tables along the wall are still available...only $99 each!

As always, first choice goes to those vendors and creators who have exhibited with us in previous shows. If you would like to setup with the VA Comicon, please contact us through our website. Even though the event is FREE to the public, we are pleased to announce we have REDUCED vendor table prices this year. Each table is 6' and includes 2 chairs.

Vendor tables will be $99 per show, or $89 if you commit to all five shows. Small press will be $69 per show, and only $59 if you commit to all five events. All rented tables will be in the MAIN exhibit hall.

Contact Dan Nokes for Small Press tables: http://21sandshark.com/blog/?page_id=120

Vendors, as mentioned, contact us at http://www.vacomicon.com to sign-up!

Baltimore Comic-Con photographs

Here's pictures of the Baltimore Comic-Con 2011 show. There's a bunch of local Washington creators in the pictures - check out the photo's name, rather than the captions which I haven't finished yet.


Shannon Gallant & Herb Trimpe, two G.I. Joe comic book artists.


Buzzboy's John Gallagher.


A dedicated cosplayer.

Catching up with cIndy podcast interviews

I ran into Chris at Big Planet this weekend, and realized I hadn't been checking his cIndyCenter podcasts as often as I should this spring. I had missed Christopher Mills, J.H. Williams III, Joe Staton, Sonny Liew, Alan Kupperberg and Herb Trimpe. Check them out!

Baltimore Comic-Con UPDATE 2 - now with more pictures

Because YOU (well, Richard Thompson at least) demanded it, here's some pics with commentary to follow later. I will say this is the busiest I've seen the con.

Greg LaRocque was sitting, possibly with his son, sketching. I always liked LaRocque's smooth style in the 1980s on the Legion of Super-Heroes and the Flash. I bought some DC tryout pages he'd done of Batman facing down Darkseid - lovely work. He should be still getting all the work he can handle. He's working on a new book for a small company - when I find the ad again, I'll mention it as he's a Northern Baltimore creator.


Me with Al Feldstein, EC artist, and Mad editor in chief during the glory days.



Jim Shooter, former Legion of Superheroes writer, Marvel Editor-in-Chief and Valiant EiC.


Jim Shooter was quite friendly - one of the guys in front of me had a pile of Avengers comics to be signed. Shooter told an anecdote about 3 of them. In one, artist George Perez added in art that wasn't in the script, like a nun answering the door when the Avengers were in hot pursuit. So Shooter called someone at the local Berlitz and had the Beast speaking correct Latin to the nun. He said they were planning to pay, but the translator was so tickled to be in a comic, he didn't want it. The issue of the Avengers with Ant-Man shooting up full-size and hitting other Avengers? Rob Liefeld told Shooter it was the best comic ever. Finally, in the first What If series - What if the Avengers Never Existed? - Archie Goodwin provided the main plot for the story by telling Shooter, "You have to kill Iron Man." Shooter spoke briefly about the fun times the old Marvel Bullpen was, and then signed my Avengers: The Korvac Saga and the DC Legion of Superhero Archives 6-7 - without mentioning this! "OFFICIAL: JIM SHOOTER RETURNS TO DC'S LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES"
by Matt Brady, Newsarama (September 6, 2007).

Don Rosa, heir to Carl Barks on the Disney Ducks.


Herb Trimpe drawing Wolverine.

John Romita Sr. and Herb Trimpe getting together.

The line for Herb Trimpe was always long, which I was pleased to see. He had written an article for the NY Times a year or so ago about being forgotten by comic book companies, but people reading comics in the 1960s and 70s saw his work all the time, especially on the Hulk. When John Romita Sr., the former Marvel art director stopped by, they hugged and then kept giving each other credit for creating Wolverine. Apparently Trimpe came up with the character and Romita the costume. Trimpe's got a book out - The Power of Angels: Reflections from a Ground Zero Chaplain. I had him sign that and a copy of Origins of Marvel Comics that my wife had signed for me by Stan Lee in 1991. Trimpe took a great pleasure in asking if he could sign the page over the top (ie higher) than Stan Lee. Fine with me.

Joe Kubert, caught at his Kubert School table, signs a few comics, but not for me, sigh.

Claire was quite taken with the Girls with Slingshots table decor.

More photographs, courtesy of Joel Pollack of Big Planet Comics:

Arnold Blumberg, curator of Geppi's Entertainment Museum
Sergio Aragones
Kyle Baker
Joe Kubert
James Jean
Frank Cho

And here's a press show interview, "Catching Up with Baltimore Comic-Con's Marc Nathan," by Tim O'Shea, September 5, 2007.