Once upon a time, I discovered drawing, then comic strips and books, and then I began to make my own. My stories were populated with characters drawn in a style I was very familiar with at the time: Peanuts and Archie. That all changed one day in Connecticut. I was on a high school band exchange trip far from home and we stopped at a mall in Fairfield to buy some little gifts to bring back home for our families. After I finished that I had a bit of time left to wander around the stores. I came across a book store and went inside. Didn’t take long for my life to change.

The gleaming jewel was on a display right at the door. I stopped right there and stared down at something that would entrance me for a long time to come. It was a collection of Robert E. Howard Conan stories with a cover painted by Frank Frazetta. I didn’t have much money left and it had to last me the rest of this exchange trip. $1.95 is what it cost in 1976. I was mesmerized by the painting that had Conan leaping onto the back of this Simian-like creature wearing a red cloak. I am sure any Conan fan will know exactly which one. I couldn’t stop looking at it. My friends came by the store, saw it, thought it was cool but walked right on by. They didn’t see the magic. To me, I was looking at my future.

Seeing that Frazetta painting showed me a whole other world and set me off in a whole new direction as a budding young artist. I never did make it into the store. I used up the rest of my money to buy that book and I still have it. A painter who lived next door to me once, Taylor Coates, introduced me to art. However, it was Frank Frazetta who blew the doors off, showing me the energy, passion and magic that can be found in art. His art had a profound impact on me at an impressionable age and that is priceless. I doubt Frazetta ever knew I existed and I never had the occasion to meet him and tell him any of this. Thanks to the uniqueness and exquisiteness of one book cover he painted once, a man I never met helped me find my way in a wilderness of art.

Welcome to our new feature, where we look at little gems and "Easter eggs" that Dale has included in the art and that may have gone unnoticed by readers.

Dale -- like most artists, I'm assuming -- has always snuck in little character moments in the backgrounds as treats for readers. Sometimes people notice them, sometimes they don't. Of course, the only way we have to know whether readers catch these things is what we hear at conventions or what we see online.

The most famous examples were the various appearances of G'Nort in Green Lantern and of the Blissful Dancing Fat Kid (BDFK) later on. Another fun one was when Dale put Geoff, Mike Siglain and Harvey Richards, along with me and himself, as customers at a grocery store in JSA #26. Those, and countless other similar cameos, were full-on Easter Eggs.

But then there are the more subtle character moments that he often includes in his panels and that aren't in the script. Those are rarely noticed. One of the best examples is the very Rockwellian two-page spread he did in last year's JSA annual. Pretty much every character is doing something that reveals his or her personality. Some fans know Dale's art so well by now that they can actually spot these. For example, we were really pleased at the recent Montreal Comic-Con when regular fan-friend Michel pointed out the example from page 8 (see below).

Here are some examples from Fantastic Four #570:

• Page 6: The clone child is neglected, has no shoes. He'd huddled over a heater to try to stay warm.
• Page 7: Even Ben's tongue is made of rock!
• Page 8: Ben is reversing the roles by slapping bio-goop on Johnny.
• Page 10: Similar to the page 6 example -- the way the child is overlapping his feet to try to keep them warm is just too cute! (My words, not Dale's, obviously!)
• Page 11: Two-year-old Valeria is setting her own alarm clock. A subtle way of indicating her advanced intelligence.
• Page 12: Franklin has a built-in tree-house in his room. There's a ladder propped up against a painting of a tree. He can use the ladder to go up to an actual hole in the wall that leads to a closet. I'm thinking that maybe Dale wants to build one of these in our own house! :-)
• Page 13: First panel: Ben has a heavy-duty cup. He obviously couldn't drink out of a normal cup. Actually, can he even drink? There's a question for long-time fans... We could argue that he can't, but then how can he do anything, right? If we start overanalyzing, where does it end...?
• Page 21: Dale loves including Escher staircases whenever he can!
• Page 21: Fat Reed (our favorite "other" Reed!) is wearing bell-bottoms!

By Wolfie, a.k.a. The Wife

Well, we survived – and have almost recovered from – another convention! It was an unusual one in many ways. Usually Dale is a sketch machine at these things, but this time we had to adjust our game plan. He’d faced one of the tightest deadlines in his career just before departure, and the +/- 16-hour days left him completely drained. I played “1950s housewife” for a couple of weeks to help out, then drove us to the train so Dale could try to sleep and add to the 4-hour night of sleep… Then we agreed before the show to accept fewer sketch requests than usual because he just couldn’t face a full-on sketching schedule at the show. I think it all helped, definitely! Huge thanks to Dale’s patient and dedicated fans for their support!!!

It may have been a quiet week-end sketch-wise, but boy-oh-boy, did those FF pages go like hot-cakes! The comic book world is a funny thing. Real life proves once again that you can’t take online comments to heart. There’s been a lot of complaining online about Dale’s Reed being too muscular and masculine, but comments at the show were the total opposite: people totally understood that Dale wanted to bring back a more iconic and heroic Mr. Fantastic, one that villains would take seriously, one reminiscent of the Great Kirby’s interpretation, albeit updated and modernized. And if the fan response weren’t enough, page sales provided added proof: we’ve never seen pages go so quickly! If you had your eye on any of these, better drop Spencer Beck a line at The Artist’s Choice ASAP…

It was a very hectic and colourful show, by the way: the costumes were better than ever, and the convention center was PACKED! I heard nightmarish stories about the loooooong line-ups, and I hear the fire marshals were actually stopping people from entering on Saturday. Reminds me of how crazy the NYCC show was two or three years ago… Thankfully, amid all the craziness, our friend Q and her buddy Spencer came to visit, and seeing them was like being in a peaceful bubble of love for a few minutes. Thanks so much for dropping by!

It was nice to meet some of the Marvel crew, although we didn’t get to socialize much. We’d already met the lovely Chris Allo, and it was nice to finally (although briefly) meet the legendary Joe Q., along with Business Development Manager Tim Dillon and Marketing Manager Arune Singh, who was actually the very first person ever to interview Dale (other than local newspapers, natch)! We look forward to getting to know them and the rest of the Marvel family better in the coming year!

We also got to connect with old DC friends, particularly Ethan, Sharis (and Hunter!), as well as Ivan Reis and his lovely lady. We tried to communicate through Spanish, but with all the incredible talent in Brazil, I think it’s time to learn Portuguese! Thanks for the lovely time spent together, friends.

We of course got to see old convention fans/friends like Alain, Pat, Dave, Tate, Kevin, Peter (not Brian!), Brian (not Peter!), Jason, Robert, Jennifer, James, Daniel, Chris, Matthew, Aman, Tiz… and so many others!! Not to mention the rambunctious Montreal gang of Serge, Yannick, Wes, Drew, along with other pros including the Immonens, Mike Choi, Richard Isanove and Jeff Lemire. Wish we’d had more time to chat with the latter three, as it was the first time we met them – crazy con schedules! If I’ve forgotten anyone, please forgive me!

We also made new friends like Byron, Kyle (see you in Montreal!) and Michael from Germany. A special warm hello to Ray P., with whom we spent some wonderful moments and who is now already very close to our hearts. :-)

We have to say we’re totally spoiled, by the way. A big thank you to the delightful Ryan and Michelle, and also to Andrew, for the sweet gifts! You **reeeally** didn’t have to do that, but gee, I have to admit it made us feel special and appreciated!

On the celeb front, we got to have dinner two tables away from Lou Ferrigno, but we didn’t want to disturb him, so I just shyly smiled at him. He must have wondered if I was right in the head… The good news is that I might get to meet my favourite gentle giant for real in Montreal, where he is also a guest. I’m Lou, he’s Lou – it’s an easy conversation starter, no? Okay, I might have to come up with something a bit cleverer… Any suggestions? Please share in the comments section!

And then the last day we actually met Linda Hamilton, eeek!! We passed by her after breakfast and asked if she had a good convention. We didn’t want to bother her and would have just moved right on if she’d seemed peeved, but no – she was SO WARM! The lady just emanates love and kindness. She had a very calming presence and seemed genuinely happy to chat with us. Classy.

The Montreal show is next, after which Dale is thinking of taking a year off conventions (other than our annual Comics for Charity event in May). I guess Dale’s profile must be increasing, because our convention sketch lists are getting filled quicker than ever before. The one in Toronto was filled within an hour of arriving (granted, we took fewer requests than usual, but still). And the one for Montreal is already half-full (the Saturday list is full already; write us if you want to reserve a spot for Sunday), even with three weeks to go. We hate turning people down and disappointing them…  and we also find it depressing to see Dale’s sketches go up for sale for a huge profit after the shows… so we’re trying something new: people willing to have their sketches dedicated to them will get priority. That way the true fans who want a sketch for themselves will get first dibs, but the more business-minded will also have their chance if the list isn’t over-full. What do you think? Feel free to post a comment.

Thanks for an amazing convention, everyone – you make it special and memorable every time.

Until next time, here are some pics and scans from the show. Enjoy!

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A “new” company? A dream book? Which? When? How? Why? It’s been hard to remain coy in answering your many e-mails, but now finally I can say it openly: I’m going to Marvel and I’ll be drawing the Fantastic Four! Here’s the scoop.

I’ve spent the past decade working at DC and very simply and naturally, the need for change was what motivated my decision to come back to Marvel. The DCU is amazing and I’ve felt at home working with its characters, but Marvel is where my career began back in 1985 and the Marvel universe is still very much alive in my creative blood. I felt it was time to revitalize my creative energies, and a return to my roots seemed right for that. Since Geoff and I were ending our run on JSA, the timing was right too – I wouldn’t have wanted to leave in the middle of a project.

I initially made my choice independently of any project proposals or work relationships. I actually didn’t have anything specific in mind and I was pretty much up for anything. The one requirement I had was that I wasn’t ready to tackle another large team book, not for a while anyway! If I had my pick of any Marvel book, though, the Fantastic Four was at the top of my list and nothing else was even close. With the top talent they currently have on the book, I pretty much dismissed my chances of landing the title… I can’t believe my luck that there was a change of team coming up!

My mother bought me my first Marvel comics at the grocery store check-out counter when I was six. Most of those were 12-cent Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four comics that I still have. That first exposure to comics showed me a whole new way to express my boundless imagination, which was desperately seeking outlets at the time, by telling a story with pictures.

These issues were the genesis of my own artistic expression, so for me, working on this title is like meeting the real Santa Claus. I started reading the FF 40 years ago and to be working on it now, on the same book that Jack Kirby founded and worked on, is humbling and just a little mind-boggling. It’s an honor to add my own chapter to the history of this amazing title. The characters are already talking to me loudly and I can’t wait to get started!

I’m most excited about Reed – I want to bring back the Reed Richards that Kirby introduced to us, a more imposing and heroic Reed than we’ve gotten used to in recent years. I want villains to be afraid of him. I want to edge him a little bit away from the nerdy professor, although I don’t want to wash all the humor or goofiness out of him or his relationships, far from it. I want to keep that while adding the imposing presence of a brilliant scientist and powerful superhero.

Another major attraction for me working on FF is that they can go anywhere; this opens up the book to science fantasy, science fiction and adventure and I am a big proponent of that in comics. I live for that kind of material, so I thoroughly enjoy transporting readers to new and incredible realities.

At Marvel, I am seeking a little more artistic elbow-room to work on more dynamic panel and compositional approaches, two-page-wide panoramic panels, and a stronger, more potent contrast in the art. One of the main attractions for me was also being able to shoot from the pencils, getting a rawer feel to the art and letting readers see the living, breathing original line-work. This first FF piece you see here was shot from the pencils and beautifully enhanced by the amazing Dave McCaig.

My fans know that my art evolves with every project, so they won’t be surprised to see new techniques being used. However, I will take the same approach to character and character interaction that they have come to enjoy from H.E.R.O, Villains United and the JSofA. That won’t change; it will only be enhanced and brought to a higher level.

It’s all very exciting, and I’m glad to have you along for the ride!

by Wolfie

Here we are in the deceptive time-warp between two conventions – the big Toronto con wrapped up last week (feels like it was yesterday), and the Montreal show is coming up next week. Incidentally, so many people dropped by our table saying that they’d be in Montreal and were hoping to get a sketch from Dale that we decided to attend both days of that show. Dale’s schedule doesn’t really permit another whole week-end away, but the fans come first!

Originally, because of that crazy JSA book, we weren’t going to go to the Toronto show, for the first time in… I don’t know how many years! But then we saw [Fan Expo organizer] Aman Gupta at the Shuster Awards in June, and he said, “You HAVE to come, you’re like family!” And, big softies that we are, that did it for us!

He was right, too. We see so many familiar faces, so many regulars at that show, that it is definitely starting to feel like we’re going to visit family. We always look forward to a visit from brothers Nathan and Joel, from Andrew (thanks for the wine, it was great!) and his buddy Chris, from Kyle, Dave D., Shawn, Marshall (and nice to meet you, Debbie!), Daniel, Jason (I still feel bad I forgot your name this time around), Peter (loved that piece Dale drew for you, but forgot to take a picture), brothers Scott and Brad (such sweet guys), and the gang from All-New Comics (Peter, Brian, Gus...) -- thanks for the great t-shirt, Brian! And as a treat this year, we got to see “Dale from Jamaica” again (he filmed Dale doing a Hawkman sketch for him; check it out here). Sincere apologies if I’ve forgotten anyone!

We got to meet a few new die-hard fans as well, and a Montreal gang that we look forward to seeing again next week!

We remembered our camera, thankfully, but… I forgot to take pictures of many of the sketches! I did remember for one of my favorites: the Scooperman sketch Dale did for Kyle, who owns the eponymous ice-cream parlor in Picton, Ontario. We’ve included pictures of a few of the con sketches here (some are rather distorted due to the angle of the camera).

Dale did an interview with Jeffrey Renaud at CBR while he was doing a sketch for a fan. Jeff did a great job putting it together; check it out here.

Then there were social engagements – dinner with beloved friends one night and with DC movers and shakers the next. Both were marvelous, except that yours truly was ill the first night. L Oh, and a big highlight of the show, of course, was meeting Alex Ross (and his delightful wife T.J.) for the first time. We all got along swimmingly!

We also had a great time with our neighbors at the show, the Immonens, and listening to the witty repartees of Peter David, who sat to our right.

The only down side was that Dale ended up working his little butt off all week-end again. One day, as Gog is my witness (she said, doing her best Scarlet O’Hara impression), he shall be able to look up from his sketch board at one of these shows and SPEAK!

In the meantime, we’ll take it as a very good sign indeed that he is in such high demand at the cons!

If you were at the show and would like to share your experience, leave a comment!

P.S. Warm thanks to Aman, Tiz, Kevin and the whole crew for putting on a great show!

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Tuesday, April 22, 2008. Here we are, recovering from another great show. Although we must admit we’re not so comfortable with large crowds – and we heard there were 75,000 people at the show on Saturday – that fact was generously balanced out by the amazing people we met over the three days of the show.

Meeting the fans is always the highlight of any convention. What a blast it was to see the Montreal gang again! Thanks for your enthusiasm, guys, and for being so dedicated. You make every show so special. It was also great to see the Turner brothers again, as well as Tiz, David from France, and Nicole, another regular. And of course, what a pleasure it was to see Jeff and Gail, and to meet their delightful daughter!


It was also great to meet fans we’d only ever communicated with by e-mail until then: Michael, keep up the great work with “your kids” and thanks for your support; Nick, thanks for the kind words and for sending the scan! We also had some nice chats with several other fans we hadn’t met before, especially “Jeff the Agreeable,” Jonathan, and Hawaiian Dave, who was so incredibly sweet that he actually brought us coffee and chocolates from Hawaii! We were so touched. Thanks again, Dave.

We felt so bad having to turn down a few super-nice fans who wanted sketches – especially Raymond and Glenn, who were so kind and patient. It helped that Dale was able to spend a couple of hours at the DC booth to do some signings and quick sketches for the fans who couldn’t get on our sketch list. I see Dale draw every day, but seeing him draw about 25 sketches in an hour blew my mind!!!


Big thanks also to DC Comics for hosting really wonderful dinners filled with warmth, friendship and great food. It was great to catch up with Mike, Harvey, Geoff, Dan, Fletcher, Larry, Chris, Jamal, Mark McKenna, Gail and Scott… form bonds of Comics Sisterhood with Jeanine, Liz, Rachel, Joan… and meet Richard Bruning, Joe Prado, Pat Gleason and Prentis… I may have stuck my foot in my mouth with Bob and Mr. Levitz, but created fun memories and connected with such great people as a result that I have no regrets!

I’m sure I’m forgetting a bunch of people, so I apologize in advance, but let’s just put it this way: warm thanks to everyone who made this week-end so memorable!

Wolfie


P.S. If you have scans of a sketch Dale did for you at the con, let us know through the Contact page; it would be great to add it here as a NYCC Gallery! Also, if you were there and have an anecdote to share, post it here!

One more for the road:

By the wife, a.k.a. Wolfie

Yesterday Dale took a short break from his insane work schedule to attend the Montreal Comic Con. One particular topic came up a few times, in various contexts: Size.

Is bigger better?

Well, when it comes to sketches, two new fans have concluded that “when you go big, you never go back.” We met Dr. P and Mitch in Toronto a few weeks ago, and they each got a sketch. They were blown away with the result. But then they saw Dale doing a full 11” x 17” sketch for someone, and they decided that next time, THAT’s what they had to get.

“Next time” turned out to be yesterday for these Montreal natives. They came with their orders ready: Hulk for Mitch, because Dale said he loves drawing the Hulk, and a Thor and KC Superman for Dr. P. I think they were happy with the results. :-p

They were so excited about their Toronto experience that they brought friends with them to this show, and we got to make new friends (and maybe new Dale fans, I think!). Thanks, guys!

We had the pleasure of seeing the wonderful Rudy and Casey from the podcast A Comicbook Orange, as well as the super-groovy gang of Montreal creators. Sadly, we were so busy that we never had a chance to catch up with any of them… A small and often changing group seemed to gather around Dale’s table, as people watched him sketch. What a great group of people they were! We had a great time getting to know each other. Other than Mitch & the Doc., there was Jean, Daniel, David, Marshall (who was patient enough to wait several hours for his sketch – the show was super-busy for Dale), Sylvain (also very patient!), Richard, Guy-Daniel, Jean-Nicolas, Martin and his son, and another David that it turns out we knew from an entirely different context! Such a small world…

Many heartfelt thanks to Oscar, Mica, and Alex – you were much too kind, but you won’t hear us complaining! J We would definitely recommend this show to all comic book pros and fans alike. We hope to see the Montreal Comic Con thriving and growing for many years to come! We know we’ll be back for next year’s edition for sure!

Some of the best news is that we finally remembered to bring a camera and take pictures of the sketches Dale did. We forgot a few, but the best ones are here. Enjoy!

Feel free to comment on the sketches or on the “sketch experience” if you were one of the recipients at the show!

Wolfie

P.S. Dale would have written a blog about the show, but I’ll let you guess what he’s doing right now… drawing some fabulous JSA pages!

More pics:

I have hung on to my own storytelling standards for two decades now, hoping to achieve that perfection. Not having splashy art has been difficult. Getting noticed is a real challenge when you pit old school storytelling against flashy, graphically sophisticated (and technically enhanced) modern art. Panel layouts that look like jigsaw puzzles and fishbowl lens perspectives are far more eye-catching than manipulation of mannerism and other content-related techniques. The jobs went to the young guys with the graphic sophistication and a lot of the old school guys I entered comics with began to vanish one by one. You always dread that day when your calls stop being returned. It has happened to me a few times, but I somehow always managed to eke my way through. I believed in what I was doing, so I just kept going.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not a dinosaur, stuck in a revolving door of old techniques. I believe in traditional storytelling, but in many other areas I updated my art, always searching for new techniques and new approaches. As a result, there has always been a modern/au courant sheen to my stuff, but underneath beats the heart of the Golden and Silver Age of storytelling sensibility. I will never let go of it as long as I am drawing comics. In twenty-two years of drawing comics, I have done some work that I am really proud of and some stuff that I wish I could erase my name from. What I am most proud of, though, is that I didn’t compromise my values as an artist in all that time, even when the jobs were slow in coming.

This past year I began work on the JSA and this has turned out to be my biggest success ever. The most satisfying thing about it is that those traditional storytelling values are still serving me really well. As a matter of fact, the readers are really enjoying the approach. I have found a title to work on where “old school” is cool. How fortuitous for me. How thrilled I am at that. I didn’t think it would ever be this good, but it is. The style has come full circle at last.

Twenty-two years ago my work first appeared in the comic book world. It was a different place back then. Some of the giants of the biz like Kirby, Buscema, Colon and Kane were still around and making comics. There was lots of work to be had then, because editors kept tons of inventory stories. You could say it was one-shot story bonanza for all those inspiring young artists out there. The advantage of the one-shot of course is that it isn’t scheduled, which leaves the amateur talent lots of time to get those panels just right. The monthly grind can sit just fine with some artists but for others, it can simply drain the life out of their art.

As the years went by, the market shrank and so did the size of the inventories. I think inventory one shots are rare these days. Kids coming into the biz now, unless they make a big splash with some wonky new style and become instant stars, have to face the deadline demon from the get-go.

I got my start doing Kull the conqueror back-up stories in the black and white epic tome, Savage Sword of Conan. Man, those were the days. If I had to jump straight into deadlines then, I honestly don’t know if I would have made it in the biz. I was slow. I was slow because I basically learned the craft on the job. Back then, a lot of artists were still using a three-tier system of panel layout. That wasn’t seriously challenged until McFarlane and Lee showed up and were the first to break the three-tier mold effectively. The medium became a little giddy after that, and the age of “poster art” was ushered in, pushing traditional storytelling aside in favor of splashy, showy art. It was cool to look at but I got the feeling that the sideshow was becoming the main event in comics.

I made the decision then that I wasn’t going to go that way with my own art. I decided to continue to work with the traditional definitions of storytelling. I had it in my mind that it would come full circle one day. I told myself that to keep myself going over the years. I stuck with this style of work because I believe in it. In the old story-versus-art debate, I laugh at either side’s claims. It isn’t one or the other, it is both, working in harmony to reach the reader on an emotional level. Neither can claim the artistic crown. If you notice the art or the writing, then you have been distracted. If the reader arrives at the last page, thrilled that he has just taken a joyous, escapist ride, then the creators have delivered the perfect work of art.

(To be continued next week! Next time, Dale tells us what things are like now, after two decades in the biz.)

There is going to be absolutely nothing else like it on the racks, of that I am sure. This title will stand far apart from other team books because of its unusual cast of young and old heroes and its depth of character. This is a very large team and each and every member is unique and distinct in look and in manner.

Geoff, Alex, myself and inker Ruy Jose all feel it’s an honor and a privilege to be able to contribute to the storied JSA. Geoff is the heart and soul of the JSA and he is pursuing a powerful vision for the book. More than any other incarnation of the JSA, we are going to examine the humanity of these characters. We’ll do so in quieter, more poignant moments and as they journey on an adventure of immense scope and importance.

Working behind the scenes is Alex Ross and he is terrific. Behind the perfect diction lies a mad genius. One of his character design suggestions led me to an epiphany of style, and I am going in a new exciting direction with the art as a result. We all share the same depth of enthusiasm for this project and everyone is going the extra mile for this book.

A dark mystery echoes throughout our first arc as we usher in the new era. New readers will get a good look at new and old members of the JSA and they will be oriented in grand style. Don’t get me wrong though, this introduction will not be a social tea. It’s dark, tense and paced to turn your hair gray. Geoff is delivering a masterwork here, and I am very proud to be a part of it.

(This is a test post taken from an interview with DC Kingdom.)