Life In Four Colors: Special Edition
Wild Wolf Tour
Just last week the first stop (which was originally supposed to be the fourth stop) of the Wild Wolf Entertainment tour through Ohio took place. (There's more to come from Wild Wolf head honcho Sean Collins on why the tour was abbreviated to a large degree.)
Last Thursday night's kick off of the re-booted tour took place at one of the largest comic shops in southwest Ohio and the largest on the tour....Bell Book and Comic in Dayton Ohio.
Store owner Peter Bell made the traveling Wolf Pack feel right at home. It was great to see special guest Dustin Carson again. I haven't seen Dustin since S.P.A.C.E. way back in mid April and I haven't seen Sean since Gem City also in April just a week or so before S.P.A.C.E. Daughter of Dracula was the very first book that sold that night and did very well over all as Chris Metzger, who was also on hand for the evening, and I took the time to travel a few blocks north to talk to Bill Thade (store owner of Fearless Readers) about some of the reasons why the stop at his store was cancelled Monday.
Bill is always a very understanding guy and was actually very impressed with the books the company had to offer, ordering multiple copies of Spirit of the Wolf, The Adventures of Mr. Jigsaw, Daughter of Dracula, and The Book of Noheim. Bill also wanted to buy the art pages from Now I Burn, the story that Chris Metzger drew for Wicked Tales, as soon as he saw them.
Chris politely declined the offer, but seeing how I didn't have my camera on me that night I thought I would share one of those pages with you. (Don't worry, audio and more photos from this stop should be coming very soon....in the mean time enjoy this sneak peek of Metzger's art for N.I.B.)
Next stop. The ol' stomping grounds of Main Street Comics and Games...Springfield Ohio. Friday night of last week.
Regular customer Rob Adams was the first person to buy his very own copy of Daughter of Dracula, once again the first book of the night that sold. Spirit of the Wolf and the Adventures of Mr. Jigsaw also did very well at this location, which turned out to be the most successful stop on the tour in regards to sales.
Store owner Scott Riley was amazed at how many creators tied to various Wild Wolf Projects showed up for what was scheduled as a very informal event. "I think this is the most creative people as far as writers and artists go that have been together under one roof at the same time here in Springfield since Darrel Buffington died." Scott commented.
I would have to agree. Felt great!
Scott Riley and Chris Metzger hanging out at Main Street Friday August 21st. Usually Scott and Chris are on the opposite sides of the counter. Raichal is talking to Frank in the background.
The Springfield Ohio Chapter of the Wolf Pack, plus the traveling Wolf-Man himself Sean Collins. From left to right....Gary Church, Sean Collins, Raichal Gladman, Bill Gladman, Scott "The Future's So Bright I got To Wear Shades" Riley, Frank Raynor, and Chris Metzger.
Thanks to another great customer Todd for taking this shot.
The Ohio Leg of the Wild Wolf Tour concluded at Super Fly Comics and Games in Yellow Springs Ohio last Saturday afternoon for the Wicked Tales Press Conference.
Before the interviews began, it was hard to ignore this meeting of the minds. Everybody here is checking out the art pages for the Wicked Tales story Dead Money written by Frank Raynor and drawn by Studio Akumkaze mercenary artist at large Chris Martin.
Clockwise (starting pretty much at 12:00) Gary Church (artist on A Matter of Life and Death), Chris Metzger (artist on Now I Burn), Frank Raynor (writer of Dead Money), Thacher E. Cleveland (writer of Gifted and co-owner of the Super-Fly store), Chris Martin (artist and letterer on Dead Money), Jacob Newell (artist on A History of Blood), and BJay Johnson (letterer on A History of Blood).
Chad Strohl artist on the Wicked Tales story Mouthful of Spiders written by good friend (To Chad and I) Dustin Carson. Chad is also the artist on the New Comic Day web comic seen weekly here on Comic Related. Frank Raynor did an interview with Chad and I about the strip. Be patient, all these interviews and additional pictures are currently being processed by Sean and Jef Price.
Be looking for more of Chad in New Comic Day (in a quite literal sense) and you don't want to miss the incredible project that he is about to release of his own creation....VERY SOON.
Scott Riley hanging out at his table and working on the cover for the Champion City Comic Con program. Artwork from Tales From the Longbox: Collective Soul can be seen behind Scott. Mr. Riley illustrated this story and I wrote it. It will appear (in somewhat different versions) in the Champion City Comic Con program guide and in Wicked Tales.
Art work from Gary Church featured in another story I wrote for Wicked Tales (A Matter of Life and Death) can be seen on display in this picture as well.
Gary and Scott patiently waiting to be interviewed.
Artwork from Scrap by Chris Martin and other members of Studio Akumakaze (Chris Hoskins and Julie Wright, inker and colorist in that order.)
Gary Church checking out a couple of issues of Scrap, while Scrap artist Chris Martin checks out Gary's portfolio.
The Alpha -females of Wild Wolf, Raichal Gladman and Deborah Collins. Raichal is waiting for Dustin Carson and Chad Strohl to finish up their interview with Jef in this shot.
Artwork from The Tree, which appears in Wicked Tales. Written by Raichal with art by her proud poppa....that would be me.
Jacob Newell, another hired gun from Studio Akumakaze and artist of the Wicked Tales story A History of Blood. This story was written by Comic Related family member Aaron Smith and together Jacob and Aaron really made a great team. Look for a lot more of this very talented team, maybe not on the same project....but who knows...in the future.
Wild Wolf founder, publisher, writer, and artist Sean Collins being interviewed by Necessary Cool .Com co-founder Jef Price.
Studio Akumakaze's BJay Johnson and I checking out the Scarlet Witch dressed pole dancer brought in to keep moral high. Just kidding. BUT....in its own way that's a shameless plug for a story you will be seeing very soon in one of the projects I'm involved with. Chris Metzger can be seen checking out copies of Dustin Carson's No Gods series.....hmmmmm.......wouldn't it be great if these two guys ended up working on a project together?
Three Wise Men? Almost. Left to right Dustin Carson (writer of Burn Victim and Mouthful of Spiders both in Wicked Tales as well as the writer of No Gods and Safehouse , drawn by Chris Hoskins and appearing in Cliffhangers now available through Studio Akumakaze)...also Frank Raynor and I think that's Metzger on the end.
The creative team of Gifted, a comic length horror story (a full 22 pages) featured in Wicked Tales. Writer Thacher E. Cleveland and artist Lee Johnson. Thacher (also known to his friends as Tad) along with fellow Super Fly store owner Tony Barry were the real heroes of the day allowing us to hold the conference in their store after plans to hold it in the Springfield Public Library fell though. Although I think they did turn the heat up so everybody in the store would keep buying pop!
All in all a great day....got to thank Jef Price from necessarycool.com for conducting all the interviews and Sean Collins without whom none of this would be happening.
Wicked Tales is scheduled to debut this coming October at Mid-Ohio Con and also features stories by Ron Fortier, Josh Brown, and Dave Arhar.
Also (hopefully at that very same show) look for a special Wicked Tales tie in book from Studio Akumakaze.
Until then....that's right....see you in the funny papers!
Bill Gladman - Bill is a writer and illustrator and currently working on several different projects including the first issue of an ongoing comic book series (Prodigy), an illustrated fantasy novel (The Book of Noheim), and the first of four illustrated science fiction/fantasy novels (Jack the Rabbit, Living Legend of the Purple Plains) as well as a light-hearted on going mini-comic (Three Wise Men). Bill also pens a column for Comic Related and will be doing a mix of regional convention coverage.
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