The A-To-Z Challenge 2016 Bonus: Ryan Dunlavey

Ryan Dunlavey is another artist I see often at local comic cons. He is usually paired with Fred Van Lente. I would become familiar with their famous collaboration, Action Philosophers! This came long after Spring 1997, where I wound up getting a D-minus in that subject. Hey, I tried my best to keep up. I was planning on taking a Bible course with the professor who would bring his dog to class, but  he (and the dog) took a sabbatical that semester. I'm still a little bitter.

Since then, Ryan and Fred have gone on to create Comic Book Comics and Action Presidents. Also, Action Philosophers! was made into a play in Brooklyn. Once again . . . still bitter that this came long after I really needed it.

I've read some of Ryan's work, ranging from his creator-owned Tommy Atomic (about a hipster whose powers come from the bomb buried in his brain) to his MODOK: Reign Delay one-shot for Marvel. And I enjoyed his cartoons in the pages of Wizard. Shut up, I know you subscribed.

Over time, I've found Ryan to be dependable with sketches, as well as a friendly guy. And he has put up with my oddball choices over the years (Living Laser was his idea; it was the end of New York Comic Con 2010 and I had run out of references.)

The latest sketch I got from Ryan might ruffle feathers. I am not a fan of Donald Trump. The man himself is not scary, but the rallies he holds court over gives me pause. I'm sure that I'll look back on him and laugh about how he made me worry for the country's future, like Mitt Romney in 2012. Still, I saw the rabid fans, the bombastic attitude and the once-proud rivals reduced to lackeys, and I thought of a particular supervillain: Darkseid. I came to MoCCA Arts Festival with two Darkseid references (one from his creator, Jack Kirby) and an unflattering headshot of Trump. What I got was a thing of beauty. It never occurred to me to ask for a baseball cap with "MAKE ANTI-LIFE GREAT AGAIN" on it. That was all Ryan. I say that to indicate how impressed I am with his choices, as opposed to singling him out for deportation or worse.

The A-To-Z Challenge 2016 Bonus: Jacob Chabot

Apparently, I'm supposed to write a "reflection" post about my A-To-Z Challenge experience. While I figure out what to write, I figured I'd go over a few artists I wound up passing by in April.

Jacob Chabot is one of those artists I see often around the New York area. He does stuff like SpongeBob SquarePants and his creator-owned The Mighty Skullboy Army. The first time I met him, it was at MoCCA Arts Festival in 2007. He did a Pokémon spread for Life Meter, and I asked him for a sketch of the monster I identified with most: Snorlax.

Over time, I wound up hitting up Jacob for whatever I was into at that time, like Death Note, Batman: The Brave And The Bold and South Park. I also read a few of his minicomics, which was all-ages fun.

I also found out that Jacob is a fan of Doctor Who. While I haven't asked him for anything too obscure, he has done four great sketches for me from that show, including three Doctors.

Jacob has always been cool to me, and he puts in a lot of effort into his commissions. I usually brings references with me, and he's game to try whatever I have in mind.

 

I've run out of stuff to say about Jacob. If you see him at a convention, give his stuff a shot. And even if you're not into kiddie comics, get a commission from him. You won't be sorry.

The A-To-Z Challenge 2016: Z

This is it. I know that I didn't get too much traffic here, but I'd like to thank those who visited this site. I'm thinking of doing a few "bonus" profiles in the days to come. I don't know what I'd do for an encore. At least I'll have eleven months to think it over.

Jeff Zornow

Jeff comes to Comic Book Jones every once in a while for signings. The only time I got something from him was in October 2014. I had gotten an Ice Warrior figure from a Doctor Who blind box, and I gave that and a few 2-D references to him. I think they were from "Cold War" because those were easier to find than old-school images.

Thom Zahler

I confess to never getting into Thom's Love and Capes comics. He does good commission work, though. Also, he's a fan of Arrow, so I decided to get Felicity Smoak from him.

The A-To-Z Challenge 2016: Y

One more day until the end of the A-To-Z Challenge. I have four artists under "Y," so let's see their sketches. Apologies for the lack of profiles as I near the finish.

Kelly Yates

Kelly was one of the artists involved in IDW's Doctor Who: The Forgotten, which spotlighted all ten of the Doctor's incarnations. I was getting the Doctors sketched around the time I was at Comic-Con International in 2009, and I hit up Kelly for the Sixth Doctor, as played by Colin Baker.

Katerina Yeizarov

I met Katerina at AnimeNEXT last year. I meant to get Jabra from One Piece in my book, but she wound up drawing him on different material.

Stephanie Yue

I briefly met Stephanie at MoCCA Arts Fest in 2007. She had contributed to the Life Meter minicomic, which centered on video games, and I asked for Dashing Prince from Katamari Damacy.

Steve Yurko

I wound up meeting Steve twice at the Javits Center in 2014 . . . Special Edition NYC (the comic-intensive convention held by Reed Expo) and New York Comic Con. Steve had One Piece prints on sale, so I went to references from that anime for him to work on . . . including something for my "Straw Hat Pirates as American Comics Characters" theme, Nami as Catwoman.

Jason Yungbluth

It's been ages since I've seen Jason. I picked up a few of his comics at shows: Deep Fried and Weapon Brown (his post-apocalyptic take on Peanuts). He also wrote a Green Lantern story in the anthology Bizarro World, prompting me to ask for the only Hal Jordan sketch I will probably ever own.

 

The A-To-Z Challenge 2016: Helen Xue

Yes, I have an "X" artist. Just one, though. New York Comic Con 2011 was where I met Helen Xue. That year, Reed Expo folded New York Anime Festival into NYCC, so I'm thinking those that had been with NYAF before were relegated to their own little area. That's what I remember thinking back on it. Anyway, I hit Helen up for Lust from Fullemtal Alchemist. It was late in the day when I got my book back, and I noticed that Lust didn't have her homunculus mark on her chest. I wound up bringing the book back to Helen, and she managed to draw it in at perhaps the last minute that day. I wish there was more to the story, but it is what it was.

The A-To-Z Challenge 2016: Judd Winick

Truth be told, it's been a long time since I've been a fan of Judd Winick. I borrowed his Hilo graphic novel from the library, but I only got halfway through it, and it's mostly for younger readers. I read his A Town Called Dragon miniseries, but I wasn't enthralled by it. Recently, he and wife Pam Ling were spotlighted on a MTV Special about love on The Real World. It was a little jarring to see them, especially after wading through hook-ups and flings throughout the show's history.

I remember watching a lot of The Real World: San Francisco in 1994, when Judd was part of the cast of the third season. Around that time, he was working on Nuts and Bolts, a daily comic strip. He dated a lot, but had a crush on med student Pam that wasn't really addressed on the show. He was also roommates with Pedro Zamora, who was HIV-positive. I recommend picking up Pedro & Me, the graphic novel published in 2000. In case you don't follow RW (and I can't say that I blame you, especially after the last decade), Pedro died in November 1994, the day after the final episode of the season aired. Judd and Pam wound up becoming a couple.

Judd would go on to create Frumpy the Clown before being recruited by Oni Press to writing and drawing "Road Trip" for Oni Double Feature. Next, he created The Adventures of Barry Ween for Image Comics, which was centered on a foul-mouthed boy genius. It was hysterical. He would do two more miniseries featuring Barry for Oni. Soon, he was picked up by DC Comics to succeed Ron Marz on writing chores for Green Lantern, and he would go on to write such titles as Exiles, Green Arrow and Outsiders. Around 1999-2000, I interviewed Judd twice. I had a tentative agreement with a magazine for an article. He was very nice about it. As I got more into reality television, I liked Judd as an example of somebody who came off as a putz winding up with a public career on his terms. Also, he was part of a panel that previewed The Real World: New Orleans and Road Rules: Maximum Velocity Tour, probably to increase his visibility for Pedro & Me. I reckon the highlight was him saying that Melissa and her parents deserved their own show.

I've met Judd in-person all three times at Comic-Con International in San Diego. I got sketches from him of Barry Ween and Jeremy Ramirez (Barry's hyperactive best friend). In 2009, I received a quick sketch of Juniper Lee, who had a show on Cartoon Network for a few seasons.

The sketch I remember most from Judd came at Wizard World Philadelphia in 2002. It was the first year of that convention, and I went as far as staying over in the city. This was back before I became comfortable with making long-distance commutes. Two days before the con started, Green Lantern #150 came out. Written by Judd, it marked a major turning point for Kyle Rayner, and it included a costume overhaul from Jim Lee. I wound up getting a sketch of Kyle from Judd. And years later, I got a t-shirt with Kyle's new emblem on the chest. I only wear it when I'm at cons.

 

HONORABLE MENTION: Mark Waid (this sketch of Samandahl Rey from Sigil that I didn't recognize until Dale Eaglesham drew that character for me), Bill Walko (two sketches), Adam Warren (three quick headshots, all based on Empowered), Freddie E. Williams II (two), Bill Willingham (three; including Rot Lop Fan, created by him and Alan Moore), Charles Paul Wilson III (four stellar commissions), Javier Cruz Winnik (four; including a double-page spread of Razer from Green Lantern: The Animated Series), Ted Woods (two), J.K. Woodward (three; featuring a Spider-Man commission that got featured on Comics Alliance twice), Tremaine Worrell (two).