Signings, Museums, Birth of an Isz, and a Nemesis Cover.

Hey gang,


Afraid I needed to take a full month off from posting, and re-charge my batteries after the store signing. But, I do wanna THANKS EVERYONE of you who stopped by - wow, too many to mention by name!!!!  It was the best twohour signing (that turned into nine hours!)  - course that extra time was added by my doing few extra sketches which clogged the line, but we managed to get everyone in - signing and sketches, and my apologies for those who didn't make it in this round. ( if there is another 'round'... whew.. this one left me winded!)

Plus,  I was told that by sundown this line was almost wrapped around the whole friggin' building - yikes! So much for my stupidly sweating no one would show up. I'm always clueless about these things.  

Thanks to Dave Downy and his crew, the Signature guys were all cool and even my mom got a chance get a ring side seat to check these things out.  It all went beyond my wildest expectations, and I have all of YOU guys/gals to thanks for your endless patience.  Remember I got to sit on my butt and sign, while you guys had the harder job of standing in line! - For which I am eternally grateful.

But,  enough already. But, yeah... beyond awesome. ( not me, YOU guys!)

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In other public news, here's some preview examples for how the Retrospective Comic Art Museum art book will look. Their printing a 96 page museum book which will catalogue all the pieces in the show. Kinda in four parts, 1) Marvel - DC stuff, 2) Maxx stuff, 3) Later Paintings and 4) Trout Antiques.  So an overview of all my crap. The size specs in this sample aren't right, this is just a rough John Butler is finishing as you read this.

However, still hammering out a NEW date for a Comic Art Museum reception ( which doesn't have to line up with the art opening)... maybe end of Feb? Or possibly into April. Stay tuned for a solid reception date.

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Okay, enough plugging of stuff.  Back to throwing something else interesting to look at.

Here's an old drawing of an Isz I used on business cards i printed up back before i broke into comics.  ( thus the ink and brush) - Kinda silly as most editors I rarely met in person, only through phone or snail mail.

Also here's an old Isz story I drew for the Fantagraphic Comic called 'Anything Goes'.

This is as close to a phallic mythological of the birth of an Isz... long before it later appeared in the Maxx.

Still struggling with women's faces here.

Not so much a story as an excuse to shamelessly sticking Isz in the funny animal Critters comics. Even though Isz aren't really an 'animals', are they? Wandering Stars. Where ever I could plug him in.

Nobody seem to care, but back then...

...there wasn't much to say about something weird little thing...with no eyes and a shaft for a body, was there?

Just kinda.... strange looking thing.

Most of these Isz stories were reprinted in the two I Before E collections, but i though it might be cool to see these pages up close.

I also dug up these blue lines of the art  I hand colored too.


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And here's a old Nemesis cover.  I may have posted this before... not sure.

(above) is a splash page Moebius did in his Aedena Cycle story, which is what inspired my Nemesis cover.  (Sorry i don't have the black and white scan, just this Epic color reprint.) This awesome space ship Moebious did always inspired me as a teenager..

His kicks ass. All mine really has in common with Moebius's ship... is a slightly forced perspective.

The hot air balloons harken back to my 1800s fixation. I wanted to see how much if a city could be suggested by lights against silhouettes.

Also tried a suggestion of fog with some splatter.

My white out was almost like cake layers... so thick back in the old days. Now, it's usually caked on acrylic instead, but the same idea. Trying to fix by plastering on as much white as possible.

Notice my unusually hidden signature... tastefully worked into the art, rather than outlandishly large like it usually is? : )


And there we go.

Wow - I can see I have a heck of a lot of comments to reply too, haven't i?  : )

Thanks again,

to everyone...   for everything.

- Sam Kieth