The Art of Matthew Warlick

Atomic-Robo 4.0 The Revenge of The Vampire Dimension #1 hits your local comic shop tomorrow (February 17th) and I’m lucky enough to have a pinup featured in the book alongside Armando Batista and the late, great Dave Simons.

Atomic Robo is one of my favorite comics at the moment, hands down. It’s a sci-fi/pulp extravaganza that doesn’t take itself too seriously yet manages to feel smart AND entertaining at the same time. It’s always reminded me of Hellboy but with a pop-culture action-science twist. It’s damn entertaining and if you aren’t reading it you’re missing out.

I’m also hard at work on a 4 page short that will hit the web first then be collected into the trade for volume 4.0. More on that to come when it’s complete and ready to launch over at Atomic-Robo.com.

So get out to your local funny-book store tomorrow and give Atomic Robo a try, you’ll be glad you did!

Day two of DCC was pretty awesome. The lines weren’t nearly as bad but business was jsut as good as day one, with most of that business being in the form of sketches.

This cool kid asked me to do a female Iron Man sketch and I tried to rock it out as best as I could.

Got a nice Two-Face request as well.

Plus a rare appearance by King Bender.

Deadman. Who is dead.

Plus a little Predator action.

And to top it all off the little lady got to meet one of her most favorite actors, Sean Patrick Flanery. Priority pass line-cutting FTW!

All in all it was another very positive convention experience (except for the con-contagion Beth and I came down with Sunday night). Senryu didn’t do quite as well as I had hoped, but I made plenty of profit doing sketches and selling prints, so it was a win. Hopefully Staple will treat the book a bit better come March 6th.

Ciao!

Adam Hughes and Tim Sale drew a huge crowd, and we got to tap the overflow for books and prints.

I forgot to take a picture of the Emma Frost sketch I did early in the morning, but Beth got this pic of Mistress Doom as requested by a convention goer.

I also did what I think is a really nice piece in a Deadpool themed sketchbook.

Afterwards The Space-Gun Studios crew and friends descended upon Freebirds in Richardson. It was epic. And delicious.

I only sold a couple of copies of Senryu but folks were eating up the prints. In just the first day I’ve already made my costs back and then some, so here’s to a successful day two!

Nrama: Going back a little bit, what’s your background? Tell us a little bit about yourself, how you got to this point.

Warlick: My professional background is in interactive design but I?ve been drawing since I was a little kid. In 4th grade I discovered comics and I?ve been hooked ever since. When I graduated I took an apprenticeship with a web design firm and eventually moved up to the position of interactive designer and then art director. The past few years I?ve freelanced doing interactive art direction and illustration work.

Nrama: In terms of organizing the event, was there an overall structure to who you teamed up with? Or are you hearing from people who published who you had never spoken with before?

Warlick: The main ICBW team is Vinh-Luan Luu, Jake Ekiss, Paul Milligan and myself; It?s basically our Space-Gun Studios entity minus Evan Bryce. We?ve been responsible for putting together the website and organizing the blog, but have had a lot of help from creators and retailers in spreading the word and helping the event take off.

So head on over and give it a read.

And if you’re in Texas come out to the Dallas Comic Con tomorrow. It’ll be the first time I’ve had Senryu for a convention and I’m really excited to see how it’s received.

Mention this post and I’ll give you a sweet limited edition Senryu print. While supplies last.

Karen O’Brien from Comics Buyer’s Guide interviews me about Indy Comic Book Week and Senryu. Click the pick to check out “The O’Brien Factor” on page 12 of the April 2010 CBG.

Transcript:

Diamond Comic Distributors announced that no new comics would be delivered Dec. 30, 2009, an enterprising idea was hatched by Space Gun Studios (a Dallas/Ft. Worth?based studio featuring members Evan Bryce, Jake Ekiss, Vinh-Luan Luu, and Matthew Warlick) to use the week to celebrate independent comics. The initiative caught on across the country, as the idea spread via the Internet, and comics shops and creators joined in to put on events. I spoke with co-founder Matthew Warlick about Indy Comic Book Week. CBG: How did you come to co-create Indy Comic Book Week?

Warlick: We (Space-Gun Studios) had heard the news through an e-mail chain that itself was inspired by Kyle Latino?s ?December Deadline ?09? post at www.pulpmessenger.com. From there, we decided among ourselves that it was a great opportunity to spotlight our books and began talking to local shops about the idea. I set up the website (http://indycomicbookweek.com), Luan started the blog, and, through the magic of Facebook and Twitter, it took off from there.

CBG: What were some of the most interesting or creative events that shops, creators, and fans held to celebrate Indy Comic Book Week?

Warlick: I think the sheer number of events is the most outstanding thing about the event. There were signings and mini-cons popping up all over the country, as the event got closer and closer. I know Spaz Dog Comics in Phoenix, Ariz., had a huge 30+ creator signing, and Midtown Comics in New York went all out when it came to purchasing books and had the widest selection of new comics from independent creators.

CBG: What did you do on Dec. 30?

Warlick: I was at my home store, Madness Games & Comics, signing copies of my ICBW release, Senryu.

CBG: Anything else you?d like to share?

Warlick: More than anything, I?d like to thank the retailers for supporting Indy Comic Book Week. They really took to the idea and helped us out tremendously with moral support, promotion, and ? most importantly ? shelf space.

Comic’s Buyers Guide No. 1664 will be out in early February.

2010 is in full swing and with it comes Con Season! First up on the docket for 2010 is the always popular Dallas Comic Con. DCC is now the largest comic con in Dallas (thanks to the demise of Wizard World TX) and is attracting some great guests this year including Tim Sale, Adam Hughes Adam West, Sean Patrick Flannery and more.

I’ll be out Saturday and Sunday selling super cheap prints ($10 or 2 for $15), copies of Senryu, doing sketches and taking commissions. So if you love comics and sci-fi and enjoy supporting local artists come on out and get your geek on.

Dallas Comic Con is at The Richardson Civic Venter, 411 W. Arapaho Road, Richardson TX this Saturday @ 11am-6pm & Sunday @ 12noon-4pm.

Be there or be square.

The guys over at Newsarama’s Best Shots review my first full-length comic Senryu.

…a mixture of chutzpah, free association and illustrated poetry, Indy Comic Week co-founder Matt Warlick’s book is a personal story put in front of an impersonal audience that nevertheless gives readers … food for thought.

…this book isn’t trying to pander to anyone — it’s intensely personal… if you’re a fan of poetry and art and the sort of daydreaming that comes with it, give this book a look.

It may not be Eisner-ready just yet, but Senryu is a precocious read that’s indicative of a lot of potential.

Read the entire interview here.

The Fourth Wall podcast talks Indy Comic Book Week and reviews Senryu. Listen to the podcast here.

Aron Head over at Ideology of Madness provides the first post-Indy Comic Book Week review of my first full-length comic Senryu.

Warlick suckered me in with his lovely artwork and hit me hard with his thought-provoking verse. The book is an anthology of illustrated stories set to lyrical poetry. In my head, there?s a soundtrack to this book. There?s a certain element of Fantasia to it.

You can read the rest here.

Going through my folders and cleaning up files I found a few more pieces I’m pretty sure I haven’t posted yet.

This one of Jon is a little older and was done for a H4H live art auction in 2008.

This is the new cover to our Space-Gun anthology Synesthetic. Lines by my boy Evan Bryce, colors by me.

And last up is a pin-up I did for Jake’s ICBW protect Solomon Azua.

And here is an alien sharpie sketch I did. Creepy fuckers they are.

The holidays are always hectic and with Indy Comic Book Week kicking off this past Wednesday I’ve been hard pressed for time to post new art. I did a couple of holiday commissions that couldn’t be posted until after x-mas but I can share them now, along with some random pieces that just got overlooked for whatever reason.

First off is this Spider-Man/Wolverine piece commissioned by a high school friend for her boyfriend.

Next is this P-51 Mustang pin-up I did for Beth’s dad. He’s a pilot and loves WWII aircraft, especially Mustangs. He recently got to fly one (there aren’t many left that CAN fly) and this was the obvious choice for a gift this x-mas.

And then there’s this Harry Potter piece I did for Beth’s birthday back in October, I just haven’t gotten around to posting it until now.

I’ll be starting a new full time job in mid-January and will be working on at least one comic project in 2010 which will most likely be released in print for next year’s ICBW. More to come on that in the next couple of weeks.

I hope everyone had a good holiday and a happy new year, it’s going to be a great 2010!

Indy Comic Book Week is only one day away, and I?ll be signing copies of my full-length comic debut Senryu at Madness Games & Comics in Plano, TX (RSVP to the Facebook event here).

To celebrate the ICBW event and Senryu I?ve got a couple of specials offers to those who can make it out to the signing; here’s what I’ll have going on for the event.

As well as Senryu I’ll have copies of the Synesthetic anthology, Real Magicalism, One Off and my first work Weird West. Prints of all sizes will be super cheap, I’ll be doing sketches and taking commissions AND I have 3 limited edition 13×19 Senryu prints for the first 3 people who buy the book and mention them.

Hope to see you there!

I?ll be at my home store, Madness Comics and Games, on December 30^th for Indy Comic Book Week. I?ll be signing copies of Senryu as well as selling prints , sketches and original art.

Nate Bramble will also be in attendance signing copies of his book Hermit Hill The Comic Strip. Fellow Space-Gunners Jake Ekiss and Paul Milligan will be at Dallas’ own Zeus Comics and Titan Comics, respectively.

So while you’re on break for the Holidays be sure and visit your local funnybook store and check out all the good offerings out for Indy Comic Book Week.

My first book, Senryu, will be available (almost) nationwide on Wednesday December 30th, better know as the first day of Indy Comic Book Week. You?ll be able to pick it up it up at participating ICBW retailers starting on new comic book day between Christmas & New Years Eve.

If you don?t know what Indy Comic Book Week is check it out here. It?s the brainchild of our comic collective Space-Gun Studios, and you can support it by going into your local shop Dec. 30th and checking out all of the independent comics on display. Give them a chance, and you might find something you like.

Senryu will be available at the fine comic shops below:

• Madness Comics in Dallas TX
• Titan Comicsin Dallas TX
• Zeus Comics in Dallas TX
• Heroplex Comics in North Richland Hills, TX
• Midtown Comics in New York, NY
• Jim Hanley’s Universe in New York NY
• Pulp Nouveau Comics in Canandaigua NY
• The Dragon’s Horde in Stone Mountain, GA
• Source Comics and Games in Falcon Heights MN

Thanks to everyone who helped donate to the Save Senryu fund and helped to get it printed in the first place. Your books and goodies will be on their way shortly.

My books arrived on Thursday, and have since been organized and prepped for shipping. They will be in participating shops on December 30th (I’ll have a detailed update on that tomorrow).

Big thanks to Ka-Blam for helping us out with Indy Comic Book Week and for hooking us up with the awesome discount for participating creators.

Superhero stress reliefe at its best. When all else fails, just draw!

On a side note, I’m open for commissions.

So the comic project that was scheduled to start in 2010 has officially fallen through, and with spare time and bills a-plenty pilling up I’m going to open up spots for Holiday commissions.

Commissions can be of any character; comic book heroes/villians, movie or literary figures, portraits of your loved one or even original artmade by me left to my own devices.

I’ll be taking payment through PayPal, and will gurantee a pre-Christmas delivery for all requests I receive before December 9th. Base price for pieces will be $10 for b&w and $20 for color.

I’ll accomodate digital delivery as well as snail mail orders for folks who want original art. If you want to be really picky and/or make a complicated request email me at soulcoredotnet (a) gmail.com to talk specifics.

$10 bucks gets you an inked sketch of any character delivered by email.
$20 bucks gets you a full color sketch delivered by email.
$30 bucks gets you an inked sketched delivered snail mail style.
$40 gets you a color print delivered snail mail style.
$10 per each additional character.

Order with the handy Paypal Dropdown below!

2009 Holiday Sketches

Inks, digital delivery $10.00 Color, digital delivery $20.00 Inked, snail mailed $30.00 Color print, snail mail $40.00 Full color original (mixed media), snail mailed $50.00

Little is known about The Iron American, aside from the fact that the original prototype for the suit was built and flight tested by J. Allen Walton, and later passed down to his Mathias. It is widely thought that Mathias now operates the suit at the behest of the Air Force & US Military, but both repeatedly decline comment on the matter.

While skinny dipping in the Bermuda triangle Young Alfred Fredrickson was attacked by an irradiated hammerhead shark, itself a byproduct of a secret, Government run UFO reverse-engineering project located in an undersea base in the Pacific.

Hiding his powers at first, he burst onto the scene in the Interdimensional Invasion of 99?, and was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions in thwarting the invasion of The Old Ones.

He used his success to spin-off a successful cartoon and toy licensing franchise, valued in the millions. He?s now retired and resides in La Jolla, California.