Writer Devin Grayson signs at Inklings Bookstore in Capitola, CA Sunday June 10 from 4-6PM.

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Press Release:

Press Release:

The Walking Dead Escape: San Diego Debuts at Petco Park to Celebrate Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead Issue #100 During San Diego Comic-Con July 12-15, 2012

Registration for The Walking Dead Escape: San Diego Opens May 16^th

San Diego, CA – May 16, 2012 –Robert Kirkman, the creator/writer of The Walking Dead comic book series and graphic novels and www.Skybound.com announce their first event, The Walking Dead Escape: San Diego.  In conjunction with the release of the Eisner Award-winning The Walking DeadIssue #100 at San Diego Comic-Con, the event takes place July 12 -15 at Petco Park, centrally located near the San Diego Convention Center. Registration is now open at TheWalkingDeadEscape.Com. There are three ways to participate in this epic adventure. Participants can be a Survivor and race through the zombie infested evacuation zone; a Walker who becomes one of the undead, embracing the inevitable; or a Spectator who watches the apocalypse from sidelines at the Escape Party.

The Walking Dead Escape: San Diego is unlike any obstacle course event in the U.S., expanding on the best-selling The Walking Dead comic book series and graphic novel storylines, allowing Survivors and Walkers to explore the initial days of the apocalypse.

“Our fans have been reading about it, watching it and now they get to live it with The Walking Dead Escape,” said Robert Kirkman. “We are literally transforming Petco Park into the early days of society’s collapse and San Diego is just the first city to fall.”

Survivors will climb, crawl and slide in an effort to avoid confrontation by hordes of Walkers, while achieving the ultimate adventure on The Walking Dead-themed obstacle course. The Walking Dead Escape is not a race, and Survivors are not timed, but the end is near, and they must move swiftly. If they’re lucky, Survivors will reach the decontamination zone at the end where it will be determined if they have been infected.

Whether taking part in the event as a Survivor, Walker or Spectator, participants will be amazed at the interactive displays and The Walking Deadreferences along the course. Early registration is strongly recommended, as walk-ups may not be available on event day.  This summer, The Walking Deadwill be taking over Petco Park and fans will have a front row seat to the real-life action event of a lifetime.

For more information or to register for this event, please visit www.thewalkingdeadescape.com or www.Skybound.com.

Author Charles Hatfield signs at Collector’s Paradise on Saturday May 26, 2012 from noon to 3:00pm.

About the book:

Jack Kirby (1917-1994) is one of the premier storytellers and visual stylists, for some readers the premier artist, in American comic book history.

For more than forty years, Kirby worked steadily at comics, in particular the comic book—that roughly half-tabloid-sized, newsstand-ready magazine which for many readers still represents the kernel identity of American comic art. Kirby entered the comic book field when it was newborn, and excelled in it. With his dynamic, eccentric style, he left a deep and unmistakable handprint on both the medium and the industry that grew up around it.

Over those forty-plus years of almost uninterrupted artistic output, Kirby—his work, his style, his name—became part of the very atmosphere breathed by comic book creators and fans. That’s why “Kirbyesque” has become a familiar adjective, and why so many artists continue to work in his shadow.

Charles Hatfield’s Hand of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby is a book about what Kirby did and why it matters. In particular, it focuses on Kirby’s artistic peak in the 1960s and ’70s. A critical exploration of cartooning, of superheroes, science fiction, and the technological sublime, Hand of Fire is the first academic monograph in English about Kirby’s work. In essence, it’s a book about why Kirby blew off the top of so many readers’ heads, and why he still does. Scholar Ian Gordon calls it “the single most important scholarly book on superhero comics hands down.”

Hand of Fire is part of the University Press of Mississippi’s “Great Comics Artists” series. It’s available now in softcover, hardcover, and Ebook formats, including Kindle and Nook.

Collector’s Paradise
7131 Winnetka Ave, Canoga Park, CA 91306

Press Release:

We are very honored to have the illustrious MICHAEL GOLDEN in-store NEXT FRIDAY, 18 May from 1-7p!

Michael will be visiting us on his way to the Big WOW! ComicFest (he will be there all weekend), but we have him first!   He be signing books and will have some original art and prints available, too.

(We will have copies of his run on THE ‘NAM, AVENGERS ANNUAL #10 and other books available in-store, too!)

Sketch requests can be made in advance at: evaink@aol.com   Come early and say, “Hi” and don’t forget to grab your tickets for Big WOW! ComicFest, too!

Treasure Island Comics
5018 Mowry Avenue, Fremont, CA 94538
(510) 744-9287

Jeffrey Brown signs at Isotope Lounge on Wednesday, May 16th 2012 from 4pm – 7pm.

Press Release:

One of the most talked about comics and creators of the year is coming to the Isotope!

Indie comics god Jeffrey Brown, the man behind some of our most beloved comics including CAT GETTING OUT OF A BAG, CLUMSY, UNLIKELY, and INCREDIBLE CHANGE-BOTS, has a really wonderful new book coming out that you won’t want to miss… DARTH VADER AND SON, and the Isotope and our friends at Chronicle Books have teamed up to bring you Jeffrey’s first 2012 San Francisco public appearance.

DARTH VADER AND SON takes place in an alternative Star Wars universe filled with hilarious and charming scenes from Luke Skywalker’s childhood if Darth Vader had been a good dad. One look and you’ll be just as in love with this as we all are!

While we await Mister Brown’s imminent arrival with stacks of what will surely be one of our favorite graphic novels of the year, go check out this cinematic trailer for the book, catch a preview over at Apartment Therapy, sit in on a Skype interview with Jeffrey, check out the Drawing Between the Lines Jeffrey Brown documentary which had it’s world premiere screening at the Isotope, and go have some puzzle-solving and finger-puppet making fun with the Darth Vader And Son Activity Book.

We’ll also be giving out free DARTH VADER AND SON pinback buttons during our event too! How cool is that?!

Isotope Lounge
326 Fell Street, San Francisco, CA 94102

Actor Ed Asner signs the DVD of his new movie at Barnes & Noble on Tuesday June 12, 2012 at 7:00 PM.

ELEPHANT SIGHS is a life-affirming oddball comedy about loss, loneliness and the healing power of friendship. In this warm reflection of our changing lives, 7-time Emmy Award-winner & 5-time Golden Globe Award-winner EDWARD ASNER leads a powerhouse ensemble whose performances are both heartfelt and comically brilliant.

The Grove at Farmers Market
189 Grove Drive Suite K 30, Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-525-0270

Writer Cecil Castellucci signs at Mysterious Galaxy in Redondo on Wednesday May 23, 2012 from 7:30 – 8:30pm.

Press Release:

Former indie rock girl Cecil Seaskull – AKA Cecil Castellucci – has many accomplishments under her studded belt. The pigtailed pixie studied theatre in Paris, received her B.F.A. in Film Production from Concordia University, started a music career with the band Bite, formed her second band Nerdy Girl, and co-founded Alpha 60 Film Collective — all the while working on her writing career. Cecil is the author of nine successful young adult books and comics, including her latest, Year of The Beasts. Written in the unique style of alternating prose and comics, Year of the Beasts isn’t just for teens! Adults and comic book lovers alike will also enjoy it.

Mysterious Galaxy
2810 Artesia Blvd, Redondo Beach, CA 90278 310.542.6000

Hugh Sterbakov (Robot Chicken) signs his werewolf novel at Dark Delicacies on Saturday May 19th at 2 p.m.

Dark Delicacies
3512 W. Magnolia, Burbank, CA 91505

Artist Frank Cho posted about his plans for Big Wow Comic Fest on his blog:

The great Big Wow Comic Fest in San Jose is just around the corner. Again this year, I’ll be holding one of my very rare art classes where I’ll teach drawing the female figure- veeeery sexy female figures. (This is a felony in some southern states, I believe.) Again this year, the lovely and culo-rrific Ivy Doomkitty will model for me at the live figure drawing class. She’ll be dressed as Dejah Thoris and belly dance for us. (She’s a professional belly-dancer. I kid you not.)

The wonderful thing about Big Wow Comic Fest is that it focuses on the art of drawing and painting comic books. There will be various free art workshops at the convention for the fans, including a costume making workshop for cos-players and acrylic/oil painting classes for fine art lovers. The fans can just watch or draw along with the artists, or just get your comic books autographed – because Big Wow Comic Fest is still a comic book convention.

Don’t forget, This year’s stellar guest list includes the great Jim Lee, Juanjo “Blacksad” Guarnido, Bernie Wrightson, Travis Charest, Kevin Nowlan, Joe Jusko, Bill Morrison, Tim Sale, Brandon Peterson, James O’Barr, Michael Golden, Mike Choi, Tim Vigil, and many many more.

www.bigwowcomicfest.com

Drew Friedman speaks in conversation with Leonard Maltin at Book Soup on Saturday May 19, 2012 at 4:00pm.

Finally back in print, Any Similarity is a collection of Drew Friedman’s earliest comic strips and illustrations, featuring his most obsessively stippled black-and-white panels and his most hilarious wise-guy takes on the stars and demi-stars and never-quite-stars of that swamp we like to call showbiz.

In these strips, many of them written by his brother Josh Alan Friedman (both are sons of the legendary Bruce Jay Friedman: humor genes will tell!), the artist works out his obsession with such celebrities as Jim Nabors, Frank Sinatra Jr., Joe Franklin, Bob Hope, Andy Griffith, and Ed Wood, Jr. film star Tor Johnson, whom Friedman actually catapulted back into some sort of semi-fame when these strips were first published in the 1980s.

Friedman is the kind of pop-culture aficionado whose Three Stooges worship is focused not on Moe, Larry or Curly but on Shemp (whose unmistakable mug graces the new cover of this edition), and whose teasing adoration can often be mistaken for mockery or contempt. But who but a worshipful fan would lavish quite so many dots on the loving delineation of these greats’ every pimple and wrinkle?

About the Author
Drew Friedman’s work has appeared in Raw, Weirdo, SPY, The New York Times, MAD, The New Yorker, BLAB!, The New York Observer, Rolling Stone, Field & Stream, appears regularly in Entertainment Weekly and many other magazines. His collection of portraits Drew Friedman’s Sideshow Freaks was published by Blast books in 2011. He resides in Pennsylvania with his wife and collaborator, Kathy Bidus and their two beagles.

Book Soup
8818 Sunset Blvd, W. Hollywood, CA 90069