Tag Archives: john gallagher

Don’t miss the Kids Love Comics Pavilion at Baltimore Comic Con 2022

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The Kids Love Comics Pavilion is returning to Baltimore Comic Con, sponsored by Scholastic/Graphix and offering a variety of family-friendly activities and how-to’s for kids of all ages October 28-30, 2022. Attendees can learn how to draw aliens, make their own comics, and create their own animal superhero in a collection of fun classes taught by actual comic book creators! Tickets for admission and VIP experiences are online now.

Hosted by comics creators and brothers Mark and Chris Mariano, the KLC Pavilion will have teachers throughout the weekend like Jimmy Gownley (7 Good Reasons Not to Grow Up), Kata Kane (Ana and the Cosmic Race), Emilio Velez Jr. (Dodgeball Teens), Dawn Griffin (Zorphbert & Fred), Darren Soto (Art Way Alliance), Nick Davis (Night Guardians), and many more. Kids Love Comics offers an area within the show floor where kids and their parents can take a break from the hustle and bustle of the comic booths. Music and crafts meet drawing and writing to form a fun weekend experience for the future comics fans and creators of tomorrow.

Host Chris Mariano, whose “Chris O-Matic Show” is an Internet cult favorite, introduces each of the art and craft programs in a style reminiscent of Pee Wee Herman or a TV puppet show. The result is an entertaining and sometimes surreal event that kids and families come back to again and again.

Besides the fun classes and crafts, the Kids Love Comics Pavilion hosts an all-star team of kids comics creators, offering fun and fabulous graphic novels that kids will love. Young readers have a new hero to aspire to be in Leon the Extraordinary, the recently debuted graphic novel by Jamar Nicholas. Kids are ready to devour the newest book from John Gallagher, Max Meow: Taco Time Machine. More taco-themed fun can be found in Punk Taco by the father and son team, Adam and Makana Wallenta. There are plenty of laughs to be had in Mark Mariano’s new zany book, Loud Cow. Enjoy the Halloween season by reading Franco’s Deadman Tells the Spooky Tales. The full guest list for Kids Love Comics can be found at the Baltimore Comic-Con website.

Kids Love Comics Pavilion

AWA Reveals Knighted #1 Retailer Exclusive Variants

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AWA Studios/AWA Upshot Studios has revealed the retailer exclusive variants for their upcoming new November series, Knighted #1 by by Gregg Hurwitz, illustrated by Mark Texeira, and colored by Brian Reber. The series is part of the AWA Studios universe built by J. Michael Strazynski. Knighted is Batman meets The Other Guys and is why a few retailers had some fun paying homage to the caped crusader.

Here’s a list of the variants and the links to collect:

Be sure to pick up Knighted #1 on November 3rd, 2021.

Chariot Gets Variant Covers from Jeff Dekal, Mike Deodato Jr., Elias Chatzoudis, and John Gallagher

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AWA Studios’ imprint Upshot Studios has unveiled all six covers for their March “Big Book” title Chariot by Bryan Edward Hill, Priscilla Petraites, and Marco Lesko.

The Chariot was a Cold War-era secret government project to provide its star agent with a weapon unlike any other in the form of a supercharged muscle car. It sank into the ocean decades ago, and the agent along with it. Now, a petty criminal looking to reform his life has stumbled upon the Chariot, and he’s about to find out that the agent’s consciousness is still controlling it in this synthwave thriller.

Along with AWA Studios’ Cover A by Jeff Dekal and Cover B by Mike Deodato Jr.,  Upshot is announcing the retailer exclusive variants commissioned by Sanctum Sanctorum Comics & Oddities of Plymouth, MI and Slab City Comics in Godalming, Surrey, UK, featuring artist Elias Chatzoudis; and Sad Lemon Comics in Ickleford, UK, featuring artist John Gallagher.

Chariot is in shops March 3, 2021.

The Kids Love Comics Pavilion Comes to Baltimore Comic Con Live

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Kids Love Comics Pavilion

Baltimore Comic-Con is going virtual October 23-25 at BaltimoreComicConLive.Com, and once again offering the best in comics creators, panels, art, and cosplay. But BCC will once again host the biggest and best kids area at any comic convention-the Kids Love Comics Pavilion, featuring comics how-to’s, crafts, and other fun activities.

Both the main BCC channel and KLC channel will run simultaneously, so while the adults enjoy their programming, kids and aspiring artists can see and learn from a variety of graphic novel creators, all Saturday the 24th and Sunday the 25th.

Here’s the schedule for Kids Love Comics LIVE:

KIDS LOVE COMICS – SATURDAY SCHEDULE (All times EST)

10:00am – The Cardboardasaurus Cartoon Puppet Party Kids Love Comics kicks off with a Puppet-Palooza, as Cardboardasaurus and his puppet pals watch a variety of cool retro cartoons!

10:30am – Cereal And Doodles Mark Mariano and Comic guests draw, doodle and discuss their favorite things while devouring bowls of fun-fortified cereal.

11:00am – Pacey Packer Unicorn Tracker John Gallagher interviews J.C. Phillipps for some Unicorn fun! It will be magical!

11:30am – Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet) interviewed by Jamar Nicholas (Leon the Mighty) The artist/writer behind the best-selling Amulet graphic novels discusses his art, and world creation.

12:00pm – Making Manga with Misako Rocks! Rising manga star Misako Rocks!, author of the Bounce Back graphic novel, shares a drawing lesson as only she can!

12:30pm – How-to-Draw with J. Robert Deans JR Deans, author of the hilarious Bear from AUNT chapter books and Shakes the Cow stories, shows how to draw his fun and furry characters

KIDS LOVE COMICS – SUNDAY SCHEDULE (All times EST) Hosted by the Kids Love Comics creators

11:00am – Magnetic Press Presentation Comics overview from Magnetic Press Creators

(12:00pm hour hosted by Mark Mariano)

12:00pm – InvestiGators Invent-A-Vest Drawing Challenge with John Patrick Green Best-selling author John Patrick Green takes a bite out of Baltimore, as he shows kids how to come up with their own cool inventive vests, just like Mango and Brash from InvestiGators!

12:20pm – Jill Thompson reads Scary Godmother Jill Thompson, the graphic novel QUEEN of Halloween, reads from the frighteningly fantastic Scary Godmother GNs!

12:40pm – Creative Crafts Challenges with Carolyn Belefski Curls artist and podcaster Carolyn Belefski offers up a look into creative crafts for kids with BIG imaginations!

(1:00pm hour hosted by John Gallagher)

1:00pm – Max Meow Drawing Demonstration and Craft John shows you how to draw Max Meow (and anything!) using simple shapes. Plus – a special downloadable Max Meow papercraft!

1:20pm – Halloween Graphic Novels Spotlight No tricks – just treats! John shares some of the BEST comics and graphic novels for the Halloween season!

1:30pm – The World of Hilo with Judd Winick NYT-Bestselling author Judd Winick offers up his unique take on art, heroes, graphic novels, and more! From creating comics for publishers DC to Random House, Judd has a lot to say!

(2:00pm hour hosted by Chris Mariano)

2:00pm – Alien Art with Dawn Griffin Zorphbert and Fred cartoonist Dawn Griffin offers up some otherworldly art lessons on drawing your own extra-terrestrials!

2:20pm – Drawing Werewolves with Chris Flick Awooooo! It’s time to turn your friends (or yourself) into a werewolf, courtesy of furr-iffic comics artist Chris Flick!

2:40pm – Let’s Make Paper Bag Puppets Create a puppet from your own imagination (and maybe a paper bag) with Chris Mariano, co-author of Claire Lost her Bear at the World’s Fair!

(3:00pm hour hosted by Jamar Nicholas)

3:00pm – An Interview with Jerry Craft Jamar talks with Jerry Craft, Newberry-award winning creator of New Kid and the just-released Class Act graphic novels

3:30pm – Imagination Aquarium: A Character Creation Exercise Jamar takes kids on a magical mystery tour of cartooning and ideas

Review: Leon: Protector of the Playground

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Growing up as a child of the 1980s, Saturday Morning Cartoons was an actual event. Me, my sister, and my cousins would gather around the TV to watch our favorite shows and geek out over what happened in them. Many of the cartoons focused on fantastical elements and it was nice to travel to a different world, even if it was for just a half hour. It was rare for us to relate to the cartoons that we watched as much of what we saw never quite resembled us.

This all changed when we started watching Fat Albert & The Cosby Kids. Suddenly we started seeing images that resembled where we were growing up and presented a different shade than what we were used to seeing on television. The show not only gave us stories that were plausible, but they gave us the Brown Hornet, one of the first black superheroes on a cartoon. As the world has evolved and normalized to seeing it how is and not how it was, characters like the Brown Hornet endures. It was a positive representation of a persons of color, is what kids all over the world hang on to. In Jamar Nicholas’ Leon: Protector Of The Playground, we get one such hero, which not children of color can follow but any child can.

In “Back To School Shopping,” we meet Leon and his mother, Miss Magnificent, as he tries on different superhero suits to go back to school with, as we quickly find out even superheroes have tough taskmasters for mothers. In “First Day Of School,” we find our protagonist goes to a normal school, where he is the only superhero and where he is the center of attention and he has his own archnemesis, a girl named Clementine, and we are introduced to his rogues gallery, who all reside in the Treehouse of Tyranny. In “After School Special,” he vents to a local bakery owner of his woes at school, and the reader also sees his lair, The Magnificent Cave, which looks very much like a certain Dark Knight. In “A Problem with Bullies,” we meet the Tardy Boys, a group of ragamuffins,, who are all in detention , and are planning a caper which will set them free, that is until Leon and his friend, Carlos, who is in a bird costume, stops them in their tracks,  but that is not the only trouble the dup runs into, as the Brahma Bully,  as the reader sees his full power in action, common sense. In “Career Day,” his friends are frozen, and he must rescue them, as he enters Clementine’s interdimensional hyperspace bridge, to find out that the villain, The Monocle, has taken over the school, and which Leon, his friends and some retired superheroes fight to rescue the students, which they defeat including Leon beating Freon, the Ice Monster.

Overall, it’s a fun graphic novel which remembers that comics are for kids too. The story by Nicholas is clever, witty, and action packed. The art by the creative team is beautiful. Altogether, this is a hero we can all get behind, as what Iron Man and Batman would be, if they were smarter.

Story: Jamar Nicholas Art: Jamar Nicholas, Raen Ngu, and John Gallagher
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy

Baltimore Comic-Con Spring Fling April 29th

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This Sunday, April 29th, the Baltimore Comic-Con Spring Fling returns for its 2nd annual event! Baltimore Comic-Con Spring Fling is a good old-fashioned comic book show with rows and rows of comic book dealers from around the country selling comics and collectibles from the ancient to the very modern, and some amazing comic guests as well — and admission is free!

The Spring Fling has announced the addition of Pixar and Disney artist, Marty Baumann to our line-up of guests for Spring Fling 2018!

Marty Baumann is an illustrator, graphic artist, and production designer. He has contributed to some of the most popular, Oscar-winning animated films of all time. Marty has worked as an artist at Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios as an illustrator, graphic artist, and production designer on such films as Toy Story 3, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Cars 2, Planes, Wreck-It Ralph 2, and many others. He also helped develop theme park installations, toy packaging, and Pixar corporate branding. Marty has rendered illustrations and developed characters for toy manufacturers, magazines, and newspapers, and illustrated children’s books, created logos, info-graphics, broadcast promotions, and presentation art for Hasbro, Universal Studios, National Geographic, Scholastic Books, Nickelodeon, and many others. Recent projects include his role as concept artist for the new Mystery Science Theater 3000 and the visual development of Sir Paul McCartney’s feature film, High in the Clouds.

Ringo Award winner and Harvey and Eisner award nominee Frank Cho launched his career as a comic strip artist at the University of Maryland-College Park student newspaper, penning University2, which was the predecessor of his creator-owned syndicated strip and comic series, Liberty Meadows. His body of work also includes Marvel Comics’ New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Shanna the She-Devil, New Ultimates, and X-Men: Schism, as well as Jungle Girl for Dynamite Entertainment. His recent work can be seen in BOOM! Studios’ Skybourne, and on covers from DC Comics’ Harley Quinn and Wonder Woman.

Long-time friend of the show, Ringo, Harvey, and Eisner Award nominee, and guest since our inception in 2000 (!), artist and writer Steve Conley has contributed to numerous comic titles, both printed and on-line. His Astounding Space Thrills was self-published, published by Image Comics, and collected as a trade paperback by IDW. He has been featured in titles such as JLA-Z from DC Comics, Star Trek: Year Four from IDW, and Michael Chabon’s Amazing Adventures of the Escapist from Dark Horse Comics. His creator-owned Bloop, is available through his online store in print or soft copy editions, and you can read his webcomic, The Middle Age, on his website.

John Gallagher is the award-winning artist and writer of graphic novels Buzzboy and Roboy Red (with Rich Faber). John teamed with sons Jack and Will to create a kids book, E.P.I.C. Bros., about two kids whose superhero dad is always out saving the world, and they pass the time using his gizmos for lovable mayhem. Jack and Will follow in the footsteps of big sister Katie, who teamed with her dad to create Zoey and Ketchup. John’s Buzzboy is back from American Mythology Productions in Buzzboy Go Digital Monster Mayhem, where he has also contributed to the recently relaunched Casper the Friendly Ghost and The Inspector. When not creating comics, John is executive director of Kids Love Comics and works as art director for Ranger Rick magazine.

Mark Morales has established himself as one of the industry’s go-to inkers for major titles and events for the big publishers. He has inked a vast number of titles at Marvel Comics including, among many others, A+X, Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers vs. X-Men, New Avengers, Secret Invasion, Sentry, Siege, Thor, Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine, X-Force, and X-Men. He has also done work for DC Comics on titles like Action Comics, Batman/Superman, JLA, New Suicide Squad, Prez, and Superman: The Man of Steel. He was also awarded the Harvey Award for Best Inker in 2009 and 2011.

And, as a special Hero Initiative guest, Tom King. The Ringo and Eisner Award winner is currently the writer of Batman at DC Comics, where he has also written Mister Miracle, Grayson, The Omega Men, DC Nation, Swamp Thing Winter Special, and has a story in Action Comics #1000, not to mention his award-winning work at Marvel on The Vision. King’s first book, A Once Crowded Sky, a postmodern super hero novel, was recognized by USA Today as one of the best Graphic Novels of the year. He was named by the Hollywood Reporter as one of the five comic creators to watch in 2015.

Tom will be signing from 1pm-3pm at the Hero Initiative booth, accepting donations for signatures. Tom requests that no graded books be brought for autographs and appreciates his fans’ understanding.

So here are the details:
When: Sunday April 29. 10-5
Where: BWI Airport Marriott, 1743 West Nursery Road, Linthicum, MD 20190
How much: FREE!

Jay Baruchel Heads to Capital City Comic Con in March

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Chapterhouse Publishing’s CCO Jay Baruchel will appear at Capital City Comic Con in Victoria, British Columbia. Chapterhouse will be present for the entire weekend from March 16th – 18th with Jay appearing on the Saturday and Sunday.

Baruchel will be at the Chapterhouse Booth #19 to meet the fans and sign comics alongside Captain Canuck creator Richard Comely and Fantomah’s Soo Lee. Also in attendance as part of the Chapterhouse family will be J. Torres, John Gallagher, Ed Brisson, and Gisele Lagace.

On Saturday March 17th, he will appear as part of the Chapterhouse panel hosted by Tony White. The panel will commence at 3.30pm in the VCC Theatre with Jay, Chapterhouse Founder and CEO Fadi Hakim, and Richard Comely chatting about all the latest Chapterhouse news, and will feature a Q+A. There will also be a host of other Chapterhouse panels over the weekend, including sketch battles and workshops.

This is Jay’s first comic con appearance this year on the run up to Free Comic Book Day on May5th 2018, which sees Chapterhouse bring together some of the biggest and best heroes of the Chapterverse for Invasion.

Review: Captain Canuck Season 3 #1

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The Chapterverse continues! Captain Canuck returns with a brand new first issue! Tom Evans has walked away from Equilibrium, his brother Michael, and the mantle of Captain Canuck, choosing to return instead to a simple life on the reservation near Flin Flon where he grew up. What a terrible time for an extraterrestrial incursion!

Captain Canuck is back in a brand new volume that’s a continuation of what’s come before and serves as a decent jumping on point for new readers. Writer Kalman Andrasofszky delivers a “debut” issue that has Captain Canuck retired in a way, walking away from what he saw as needless escalation and a focus on protecting the “haves.” That part to me is the most interesting and Adrasofszky subtlely puts in some Canadian history and politics into it all that might not be apparent for non-Canadian readers. Talk of First Nation and areas left behind has really kicked up recently in Canada and this issue is no stranger to addressing that and in a way may create an even bigger way for Canada’s hero to stand out from his American counterparts. Go small instead of big.

The issue is set up though with an alien incursion threatening and we don’t get Captain Canuck in suit battling away. Instead the issue is a lot of background, which isn’t bad as it’s an easy way to catch up even for long time readers. So, those looking for the Maple Leaf to do battle will be dissapointed but instead what we get is a tension build up of a comic that’ll hopefully lead to something really interesting.

The art by Leonard Kirk is solid as it bounces around in locations and situations. Quieter talks, high-tech bases, alien battles, it’s all here and it flows effortlessly in a way that’s dynamic and entertaining. The art like the writing is engaging and helps draw the reader in.

Basically, this is a comic without it’s lead character in many ways and feels a little like when Captain America walked away from his title, which isn’t a bad thing. The issue builds to what I assume is an eventual return and more importantly builds the world that is the Chapterverse, an under the radar superhero universe that’s one that should be checked out.

Story: Kalman Andrasofszky Art: Leonard Kirk Cover: John Gallagher
Story: 7.75 Art: 7.85 Overall: 7.75 Recommendation: Read

Chapterhouse provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Preview: 68: Homefront #3

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68: Homefront #3

Story By: Mark Kidwell
Art By: Kyle Charles
Art By: Jay Fotos
Cover By: Nat Jones
Variant Cover By: John Gallagher
Price: $3.99
Diamond ID: ICSEP140708
Published: November 5, 2014

The winter snows run red and the northern lights shine on the dead as ’68: HOMEFRONT travels to Black Falls, Canada for the opening chapter of the all-new two-issue story arc “DODGERS.” Doug and Bobby Hacker, twin teenagers running from the draft, running from the specter of death in Vietnam, find more than they bargained for as slavering sled dogs, rotting Mounties, and a vicious, desperate mountain man bring the undead contagion to the frozen north.

68Homefront03_CoverA

Free Comic Book Day at Cards, Comics and Collectibles!

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Free Comic Book Day at Cards, Comics and Collectibles

From the Store that Brings You the Baltimore Comic-Con…

Cards Comics Collectibles graphicREISTERSTOWN, MD – May 3, 2012 – In honor of 2012’s Free Comic Book Day promotion, Cards, Comics and Collectibles of Reisterstown, MD will be celebrating along with the rest of the nation on May 5, 2012.  Come and meet Top Cow publisher Filip Sablik from 11am-3pm and artists John Gallagher (Buzzboy, Roboy Red) and Steve Conley (Star Trek, Bloop!) sketching and signing all day!  Steve will have 100 free limited edition 11″x17″ Bloop! Free Comic Book Day prints as well (while supplies last!).

Prizes will be given away all day for people who come in costume!FCBD Bloop Print

FCBD Specials — We will be having sales throughout the store, including modern back-issues in bins for only one dollar! Come see character appearances by Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America between 11am and 1pm!  And don’t forget we’re also giving away free comics while they last!  Our hours for Free Comic Book Day are 11am-7pm.

Don’t forget to ask us about plans for this year’s Baltimore Comic-Con!  We’ll see you there!
Our address:  100 A Chartley Dr., Reisterstown, MD  21136
For more information, call Cards, Comics and Collectibles: 410-526-7410

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