Canister X – A.P. Fuchs: Zombie, Paranormal Romance and Superhero Novelist, Blogger, Artist, Publisher

This year’s C4 Comic Con was the most successful than previous years for both Coscom Entertainment and myself. Loads of books went, lots of fans were met, lots of autographs were signed, lots of pictures taken. It was awesome.

Usually I report on the con over the course of three days. Well, I’m shaking it up this year and am giving you a mammoth report now. All pictures taken are below.

It was also thrilling to be surrounded by so many people I work with. My wife, Roxanne, was there with a table for her Fuzz Society comic books and her 24-hour comic, Average Jill. Axiom-man cover artist Justin Shauf was there, and he and I promoted our special edition minicomic, Meet the Maximums. Rhiannon Paille was there promoting her debut novel, Flame of Surrender. From out of town came J.L. MacDonald (author of the Nightcat book series), and J.B. Robb. They both appear in the upcoming Metahumans vs the Undead anthology that I just edited and is going to press soon.

What was really cool was Roxanne, myself, Justin and Rhiannon were all in the same area in a kind of U-shape, making it easy for us to refer fans and readers to our respective tables for signatures and sales.

Last, thanks to everyone who came out and bought a book, comic, artwork, said hi, and checked out our stuff. Because of folks like you, we can keep creating and sharing it with the world.

Here’s a pile of pics from the con from over the weekend, displayed in the order they were taken.

Comic con is my favorite time of year aside from Christmas. I’m still sitting here processing all that went down (including say hi to Kevin Sorbo, giving Jonathan Frakes a nod in the VIP room, and walking past William Shatner as I went to get a sandwich).

One of the things that’s common for all artists–and especially us Winnipeggers–is our desire to do things as cheaply as possible without compromising final product integrity. That said, currently Axiom-man No. 1 is being drawn on good old-fashioned 20lb, 11×17 white paper, with a 10×15 “live area” blocked out on the page for the actual artwork. Why 20lb paper instead of the standard bristol board comic artists use? Simple: it’s waaaaaay cheaper, something to the tune of 500 sheets for about $14 CAN.

And though this stuff works, my handicap is three: 1) I need to create my own 10×15 template for every page I do (which is no biggie as it only takes a couple minutes), and b) the big one, it can cause trouble if I decide to switch to using dip-and-brush ink instead of the Sharpies I’m using now, and c) whether for commissions, the sale of original art or simply having them on gallery display, 20lb doesn’t look as professional as its bristol board counterpart.

So why not get bristol board and go to town with it? BECAUSE IT’S STUPID EXPENSIVE. In Canada, a pre-lined pack of 24 pages is $27.99. Without the comic guideline’s, bristol board is $24.99 for 24 pages. For the time it saves on drawing the lines, the extra $3 spent is worth it. But I’m not paying that much for paper.

Except for today. I had a 50% off coupon and used it wisely and got 24 pages for $13.99, pre-lined, all set to go for when Axiom-man No. 2 gets underway.

I’m excited as I’ve never drawn on real comic paper before. Bristol also holds ink way better and is of better quality than 20lb so provides the customer with a better product if I end up doing commissions or selling original art from the series.

Here’s a pic of the pages side-by-side, individually, and close up where I put the page’s details.

I’m stoked to start using these, but even more excited to start sharing the comic with you. I have 10 pages done, so I’m getting there.

Set up a DeviantART account and uploaded a sample of my artwork.

My main style is comic book, though I am versatile and hope the work I posted shows that.

If you’d like me to do spot art for your book, draw you a comic, do a pinup or commission something else, please email me at apfuchs at gmail dot com. My rates are reasonable and can give you a timely turn-around.

My DeviantART account can be found here. Hope you see something you like.

Thanks.