75 - Nominated!
Wait, nope, never-mind.
BASEBALL FIGURES
I was trying to figure out what I wanted to submit to the HeroesCon 2026 Art Auction and I kept bouncing around with varrious characters and realized that I needed to stay in my lane. So behold! Gambit as a Submarine Pitcher!
BRANCHING PERSPECTIVES
I was so bad at taking pictures at my art opening, but it was a great show, I have sold 5 pieces. Here are some process shots for the centerpiece.
MOMOCON
Momo was great. I had several panels. The panel on “making your own comic” was standing room only with about 200 attendees. thanks to everyone for coming out and all the great questions!
Here are my commissions from the show. Looks like it was a black and white show, only one color painting.
I loved the show. I got to hang with some of my favorite people and play Magic: The Gathering. A perfect weekend.
WAITING
I had all my deadlines right before Momo and so now I am waiting.
One project kicks off on the 12th, another not until the 17th, so right now I am packing in the writing and sketchbook work to be ready for when the summer hits.
HEROESCON
I am so excited for this show! My ultimate comics inspiration, James Harren will be at the show. I hope I get a chance to meet him again and thank him for all his inspiration.
I’d love to take some preshow commissions! Please hit me up via DM or email.
Along with the Gambit pitcher, I plan to have an array of comic characters as baseball players available. This is my new thing.
SDCC
I wish I had more Cyber League news, but it all has to wait for SDCC in July. I do have a limited number of Hats at my booth at HeroesCon. We just went art lock and sent files to the printer. I just got my flight info. I’m so excited.
WATCH: Survivor
I didn’t watch a single movie all month. I usually watch at least one. I was busier than I thought. Anyway, my wife and I are casual Survivor fans and we just watched the season finale of Season 50. I don’t care for much reality TV because of the Hawthorne effect, but I do enjoy a competition show and Survivor is the GOAT in that respect.
READ: Devil May Care
This is a 007 novel. I have never read one before and this one was great. Plenty of twists and turns, an iconic villain, henchman, and evil plot. This is one I could definetly see them making into a movie, very thrilling.
LISTEN: SPAMALOT
On family vacation, we were celebrating my in-laws 50th anniversary and we had a funny karaoke night. “The Song that Goes Like This” was my favorite.
PLAY: Crossword
This week, the NYT Crossword was free. As a freeloader, I usually only do the Wordle, but I sat down Monday evening to do the crossword and was reading hints to my wife while she puttered before bed. We made pretty quick work of it, and honestly, we crushed it. I felt really smart. We made a habit of it this week and it’s be a fun end of day wind down activity.
I was nominated for an Eisner!
But not for the project I was hoping for. Hope Never to See It was not nominated, which is a bummer, but not surprising because it was pretty limited in its release and was likely lost in the wash.
Stardust the Super Wizard was nominated for Best Anthology! I colored a short story in the middle, drawn by my buddy, Keith. The way that Anthologies work is that the editor is officially nominated. But still! I worked on an Eisner-nominated book! How exciting!
I went on vacation and unplugged from the world. When I returned, I learned that the nomination had been rescinded.
Turns out, one of the contributors used A.I. to generate his one-page script and art. In the book, page 106 was generated by a Large Language Model (AKA A.I.), but importantly, the next page makes reference that 106 was clearly made by A.I. (It is a very meta book) and is inferior to anything created by a human. It’s satire.
There is technically no rule against A.I. in the Eisner’s submission, but the outcry was loud and a rule was added for the future. Van Jensen, the nominated editor, withdrew the book from consideration, and the Eisner judges made it official.
You can read more about the story HERE from Publisher’s Weekly
There you have it, I am officially unnominated for my first Eisner.
Now, it was an anthology. I wasn’t the editor. I only colored 8 pages of an 180-page book. This is not about me. Dozens of artists were robbed of the chance at the limelight by a single page made by A.I.
“Well, looks like A.I. is coming for your job after all. Are you worried?”
“Nope.”
Just like in the book.
Even tho I would love the accolades, mostly for the wider audience it would provide, I’m not in this business for the fame, awards, or recognition. If I were chasing those vices, I would download TikTok and sell my soul for followers and views. Thus, my abandonment of social media- but that’s a rant for another day.
No, I’m in this vocation to tell stories. Right now, I have avid fans in my children, wife, and extended family. Maybe a few dozen superfans, and 1000 or so people who would recognize my name. I have to be patient while my career builds and trust that the right people will hear my stories at the right time.
Thanks to all who submitted me for a Ringo, we will see if that pans out. In the meantime, I hope you are reading good books, enjoying fun comics, and living full lives.
Cheers,
&