Baltimore ComicCon Preview: Artist Mike Maihack

This guy! It has taken me a bit of forever to spotlight the fantastic work of all-around awesome artist Mike Maihack.
Mike is a graduate from the Columbus College of Art and Design who spends his time - as his bio says  - "drawing pictures of cats, superheroes, space girls or just about anything else he can think of that might involve rayguns or serving tea." That, folks, is a sentiment that the cat-loving, sci-fi geeks who populate this blog can get solidly behind. There's not enough rayguns in the world. I have to settle for my wife's hairdryer.
Mike created a webcomic called Cow & Buffalo,and has contributed art and stories to books like Jim Henson's The Storyteller; Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities; and the Eisner and Harvey award-winning Comic Book Tattoo.  But the work we know him best from is Cleopatra in Space, a webcomic he wrote from 2009-2012, which is now a graphic novel series published by Scholastic/Graphix. In it, a 15-year old Cleopatra has been whisked away from ancient Egypt and flung into the far-future where a prophecy says she will one day be the savior of the galaxy. So long as she passes school and avoids detention.

Pew Pew!

The first time we met Mike, Rosa scooped up one of his pieces of fan art, a Where the Wild Things Are print.  Since then, we have bought Harry Potter prints, X-Men art and fan art from Miyazaki films ... admittedly, we go a little crazy for his work.  It's hard not to, when every image evokes heart or playfulness or both.  Much of his art involves female characters: his own protagonists, well-known superheroes and literary figures.  And no matter how cute or youthful, each image also evokes smarts, toughness and a depth of personality.  His work has recently hit a serious note with fans in the form of his Batgirl/Supergirl fancomics, which hilariously and sweetly paint the two heroes as pals - admittedly with different priorities.

This is the only Supergirl comic I can stand anymore!

 A few years ago, I was finally smart enough to commission a piece.  This Princess Leia image was for a tattoo I was, and am still, planning to get.

I find that I might overuse the term down-to-earth to describe some of the artists I have met since going to cons and since starting the blog.  But there's a reason for it.  Folks like Mike have always managed to be friendly, approachable and excited to talk with complete strangers about their work and their own fandom.  It's part of why I keep coming back, frankly.  I'm excited to visit his table again at Baltimore ComicCon - hopefully you will too - and in the meantime, check out his website.