We are a year-round, geek and pop culture convention in blog form -- spotlighting artists, vendors, cosplayers and geek-themed nonprofits from cons across the country.
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.
We're fans of pinup. Scratch that.
We're a little fanatical about pinup around here.
It's fun when artists can combine pinup art with comic book and geek culture. We've covered artists such as Erica Hesse and the 1800s burlesque pinup of Michael Dooney and we're big fans of Baltimore Comic-Con staple Paigey. Maria Danalakis brings something fresh and cool to the genre. (Is sexy and flirty also allowed to be cute? Looks like it!) She is a designer of children's wear and has an extensive gallery of greeting and birthday cards. She takes that talent for clean, simple and playful design into her pop culture artwork as well.
"I memorized all of these books!"
I got to her table late on the second day of the Baltimore Con, which was a big frickin' mistake! But missing her would have been a bigger one. There was a lot to take in, including pinups and alt looks of some of my favorite comic book characters. I was trying to come to a decision when the PA system announced that I had been employing poor time-management skills and fifteen minutes to wrap it up, because there was still a T-shirt I needed to get. I think that's what the lady literally said - it was an oddly specific PA message.
Luckily for me, among the merchandise was a sticker sheet (seriously, how cool is that?) of my favorite DC ladies - pinup style. Easy decision. And I came away much happier than I did from the T-shirt purchase. Now I have to figure out where to put my stickers ... I don't have a trapper-keeper anymore.
If you don't love 50s pinup cheerleader Supergirl,
I'm not sure I want to know you.
Day 1: "Ready? OK!"
"Give me an S! ... What's that spell...?"
It's been a weird year for cosplayers so far. A lot of I think pretty healthy and needed (though sometimes not always friendly), debate about the roles, motivations and misconceptions of being a cosplayer, particularly at conventions.
For my money, whether a newb, amateur or semiprofessional, I think cosplayers of all types play a fantastic role in both geek culture and convention culture. What's not to love about someone who is the living embodiment of a character we have grown to love?
I first started paying attention to serious cosplayers after Baltimore's con. Once you meet and start to follow cosplayers at conventions, a strange domino effect begins, where you end up a fan of another cosplayer and another and another. It's a supportive and friendly community and these ladies and dudes cross promote all the time. And that's how you start to see just how big the community is. Somewhere along the line, I became aware of Ani-Mia.
About thirty minutes into my trip to Seattle for the Emerald City Con, I got a text from Manny, "Dude, Ani-Mia is going to be there!"
Then he sent an additional 200 messages cursing my name for being there while he was not.
That's fair.
Ani-Mia is self described as a "little ball of energy that loves to make people laugh & dresses in sexy cosplay." She is exactly that, but also very smart, gracious and friendly, particularly to guys like me who came back with a camera every day to get a pic of her in a new costume. (She signed an autograph to an adoring Manny)
I'm a huge fan of hers also because her costumes are generally very accurate and painstakingly made. Even when she takes creative liberties, the result is pretty stunning. Now why the heck hasn't she done a Wonder Woman yet?
If you want to learn more, catch her Devaintart Gallery, her interview at Nerdreactor. And also check out her shop for posters and goodies to help fund her convention trips. Who knows, that might just bring her to your neck of the woods.
