Author Archives: grcomiccon

Legal

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Legal

West Michigan Convention ventures LLC is a family-friendly organization that strives to create PG to PG-13 style events with programming for adults and children of all ages. We will strive to eliminate display materials at our events that are overtly violent or sexual in orientation for the protection of all children attending. If we ever host an event that will not adhere to these policies we will make it quite apparent in all our advertising for that specific event.

West Michigan Convention Ventures LLC does not discriminate against any employee or fan on the basis of race, creed, age, handicap, sex, religious affiliation, national origin, or sexual orientation.

The official charity of West Michgan Convention Ventures LLC is Kitchen Sage. We are not accepting any applications from any other non-profit organization for fundraising opportunities. Nonprofit organizations may submit programming ideas but they can not be designed for the purpose of fundraising or to push any social, religious, or political agendas as defined by West Michigan Convention Ventures LLC.

Andrew Pepoy

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Booth 437

Born in 1969, to the dismay of many. After abandoning such worthless pursuits as becoming the President or an accountant, at age 10 I decided to draw comics. Soon after, I met “Buck Rogers” artist, Rick Yager. Seeing that there were real cartoonists out there, my parents began to worry.

After many years of publishing fanzines, and while still attending Loyola University Chicago, I sold my first professional work and was soon working for Marvel, DC, and other major comic book publishers on such characters as Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, The X-Men, Fables, Scooby Doo, Sonic the Hedgehog, The Simpsons, Betty & Veronica, Godzilla, Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Wallace & Gromit, and many more. Recently I also began working in the European market.

Starting in 1995 I also wrote and drew my own comic book feature, The Adventures of Simone & Ajax, which was re-launched online in 2007 at ComicMix.com and recently collected in print from IDW Publishing.

In 2000, I was asked to redesign the Little Orphan Annie newspaper strip, which I drew for the next year. In 2005 I wrote and drew a revamp and revival of Katy Keene for Archie Comics, which was collected in the paperback, Katy Keene: Model Behavior.

Having been nominated several times, in 2009 I won the comic book industry’s highest award, the Eisner Award. I’ve also been nominated for multiple Hugo Awards and the Inkwell Award.

Current Projects: A five-year run inking the Eisner-award nominated series, Jack of Fables, for DC/Vertigo Comics, as well as inking many comics of The Simpsons and Futurama for Bongo Comics, the “Archie Loves Betty” half of Life With Archie Magazine for Archie Comics, and 2 recently-published graphic novels, Lanfeust Odyssey book 1 and Alunys, for the French Publisher, Soliel. Returning to writing and drawing new Katy Keene comics for Archie Comics and developing new plans for my own Simone & Ajax.

 

Comfort and Adam

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comfort and adamComfort Love and Adam Withers are from Michigan (Mitten-sippi) with Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Illustration and Graphic Design. Having cut their teeth on Role Playing illustration for such names as Palladium Books (Rifts) and Green Ronin (Mutants & Masterminds), they are stepping into the medium that has held their hearts and imaginations since they were wee children: Comic Books.

Having met and married while attending the Kendall College of Art and Design in beautiful Grand Rapids, their deep friendship immediately sparked over long discussions of comics and storytelling. Before long, they were sharing their ideas for their own books and characters, and after several attempts at ‘breaking in’ with the big name publishers, they decided to go into business for themselves. The Uniques is the product of that decision.

comfort and adam 1A lifetime’s labor of love for Comfort, who came up with the concept while barely into her teens, the pair began bringing their ideas together and this meeting of the minds fanned the spark into a fire. They turned The Uniques into a collaboration unlike any in modern comics: every script is co-written by both, every page features penciling by both and color by both. Not a panel goes to print that doesn’t have the stamp of each creator on it.

The duo live in Flint, Michigan with their two cats, Obi-Wan and Annie-kin. They draw a lot. You may find out more about The Uniques and their three-part mini-series Rainbows In The Dark at www.comfortandadam.com.

Justin Kohn

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NightmareBeforeXmasPhoto02

The Nightmare Before Christmas
photo courtesy The Walt Disney Company Inc.

Justin Kohn is a world-known expert in the animation art of three-dimensional effects including stop-motion animation. His talents have been sought after by Hollywood for over 25 years and have been in the forefront of many classic animated films.

Justin has been involved with three-dimensional animated effects work since 1979. In the 80’s and 90’s, he ran a small animation armature manufacturing and effects rigging studio in Los Angeles along with partner Master Machinist Peter J Marinello.

Justin received national attention for his stop-motion animation work in the 1988 sci-fi cult classic Killer Klowns From Outer Space. His most famous work appeared in two classic animation films: the Jack Skellington sleigh scenes in the 1993 holiday classic The Nightmare Before Christmas as well as being the lead animator in the 2009 creep fest Coraline.

photo courtesy Laika Inc.

Coraline photo courtesy Laika Inc.

Justin’s other 3-D animation film credits include Robocop 2, James And the Giant Peach, Monkeybone, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, Antz, and Puppet Master. Justin also has a wide range of television credits as well including “The Bite-Sized Adventures Of Sam Sandwich” for the Disney Channel and “Beforel Orel: Trust” for Adult Swim. 

Justin’s newest project are the animation effects in the upcoming fantasy Anomalisa starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and David Thewlis.

In addition to signing autographs, Justin will also be bringing to the Grand Rapids Comic-Con a museum of authentic character props from his work which will be displayed in a museum-style format. He will also give a presentation on 3-D animation effects.

You can find an overview of Justin’s work online at www.mechanicalspirits.com.

Mark Mekkes

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mark mekkes 1Mark Mekkes is a cartoonist, illustrator and writer that has turned his efforts to the world of web comics. Mark is the creator of the groundbreaking e-comics “Zortic” and “Saucer Seekers”, as well as the role playing card game Steam Spy.

His credentials include:

  • Bachelors of Performing Arts from Hope College in Michigan
  • Bachelors of Art in Illustration from Ringling School of Design in Florida
  • College internship at McCarter Theatre at Princeton University
  • Appeared on G4-TV’s “Attack of the Show”
  • Founded the Web Cartoonist Choice Awards. Acted as president and advisor.

mark mekkes 2Mark also wrote the e-book Acting For Artists, a book on bring better performances to comic and character illustrations.

Mark was born and raised in Grandville and went to college at Hope College in Holland, and he is looking forward to coming home.

For more information on Mark’s work make sure to visit his website www.entireprizeenterprises.com.

Livio Ramondelli

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livio ramondelli 1Livio Ramondelli is currently drawing various projects for IDW Publishing. His credits include Transformers: Autocracy and Monstrosity ( with Blizzard creative director Chris Metzen and Flint Dille), Transformers: Chaos, Robots in Disguise, as well as covers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joe, 30 Days of Night and others.

He has also provided Star Wars covers for Dark Horse Comics, and Battlestar Galactica covers for Dynamite Entertainment.

In addition, he provides art and designs for Google, Hasbro, and Upper Deck, among others.

livio ramondelli 2He previously worked for artist Jim Lee at WildStorm/DC Comics, doing design work for the “DC Universe Online” MMO title, among other games.

He received a Masters Degree from The Academy of Art University, as well as a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Pennsylvania State University.

He resides in Los Angeles.

For more information on Livio and his art, check out his website at www.livioramondelli.com.

LEGOs

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The West Michigan LEGO Train Club (WMLTC) will display a 10×20 town/train layout with three trains running at the Grand Rapids Comic-Con on November 21-23. We will also have a spot of various LEGO products available to the kids to play and build.
West Michigan LEGO Train Club logo

About WMLTC

WMLTCWMLTC is a chapter club of MichLUG, focusing on events and meetings in Western Michigan. We are an organization for adult and mature teen hobbyists rather than kids and pre-teens. We are available to set up displays for train shows, museums, comic-cons, and other events. Contact us here with your requirements and we will work something out. Our website is www.wmltc.org.

Dan Monroe

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dan monroe headshotMichigan-based artist Dan Monroe has been producing artwork as a freelance artist for over thirty years. His paintings have been exhibited and sold in art galleries across America and he has taught art in several venues, most recently Western Michigan University.

dan monroe 1He was first published at twelve years of age when he illustrated a ten page “True Life Adventure” story for the Michigan Fraternal Order Of Police magazine. He became known as “Dragonbrush” when he was stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii, where on the weekends he worked in a corner T-shirt shop and honed his craft as an airbrush artist.

When Dan eventually left military service, he attended Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids.

In the years since, Dan has done illustrations on a wide variety of projects and for many publishers including Jim Baen’s Universe, BeWrite Books, Heroes Fallen Studios, and several others. Dan has illustrated books for such celebrities as “Baywatch” actress Erika Eleniak as well as actor Robert Russler (“Babylon 5”, Weird Science, A Nightmare On Elm Street 2), plus he has designed collectible trading cards for International Boxing Fall Of Fame inductee Kostya Tszyu, boxing champion Jesse james Leija, and boxing champion and American gold medalist Ray Mercer.

dan monroe 2Dan achieved international recognition as the illustrator for Dennis The Wild Bull, the children’s book written by NBA Fall Of Famer Dennis Rodman. Dan also recently provided the pencil work for two true life soldier stories for a sepcial Sixtieth Year Commemoration of the Korean War Graphic Novel for the Department Of Defense.

I do take commissions.  I do sketch cards for $35.00  Comic Sketch Blanks for $65.00  I also do 8.5 x 11″ single character bust in color for $40.00, and special requests on a charge-by-the-job basis.  People can always go to my website  www.dragonbrusher.com  for more details.