Emerald City Recap

by on April 5, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

Another awesome Seattle ComiCon comes to an end. I’m always sad when the con is over. It feels a little similar to the day after Christmas — but not quite. I had a great time; I got to meet some of my idols in comics, and also some movie icons, mostly from a distance, though.

Some of the highlights…

Got to meet Ernie Chan, artist of Conan and Power Man and Iron Fist back in the late ’70s and early ’80s. I remember always recognizing his style and taking pains to understand how he could get muscles to look just right.

Met Phuong-Mai Bui-Quang, or P.M.B.Q., and saw her awesome character designs and deceptively simple, almost bamboo brush drawing style. She and her partner have created “Unemployed Pandas,” which I really enjoyed. (Thanks for the free copy of the comic!!)

Spoke with the fantastic Fleet Street Scandal artists Kevin Dart and Chris Turnham (left). I was happy to buy a collection of their work… and get it signed! If I could draw backgrounds half as well as they can, I would die a happy man.

Spoke the longest with the incredibly friendly and talented Steve Rolston, artist of Queen and Country and Emiko Superstar, among other work. He told me about Vancouver’s five annual comic-cons (compared to Seattle’s one and only), so I’ll definitely check those out.

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Next Week…

by on April 3, 2009 at 11:53 am
Posted In: Uncategorized

This could get ugly!

SMASH Episode 6 premieres Monday, April 6th!

SMASH Comes to Emerald City

by on April 2, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

Hey guys — Smash artist Kyle Bolton here.

If you’re going to be at Seattle’s Emerald City ComiCon this weekend, I thought you’d like to know that I will be wandering the convention in search of the elusive G. I. Joe Yearbook #2! That’s the one illustrated by my comic artist idol Michael Golden, whom I was thrilled to meet at Emerald City in 2007.

My own copy of the Yearbook is coverless, the pages have been read so many times they’re in pieces, and I desperately need to replace it.

I’d also love to chat with any other artists or Smash readers! Drop me a line if you want to meet up!

And if you see me walking around in my brown Smash T-shirt and you’re curious to say hello, or just want to offer me a tissue for my drooling problem, feel free to tackle me to the ground — or gently put your hand on my shoulder to stop me. Either one’s fine.

Marvel Comics Partners with SMASH — DC Vows Revenge!

by on April 1, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

The Associated Press will run the wire story in a few hours, but you get the exclusive scoop first, right here!

We’re proud to say we were approached by Marvel’s Editor-in-chief, Joe Quesada, who gushed that he’s a huge fan of Smash and would love to work with us.

We said that would be fine, but he should go get us some cups of coffee. Joe hurried back — though not fast enough, as the coffee had cooled to a tepid room temperature. So we sent him back for more. When he returned (much faster this time), we agreed to let Marvel publish Smash if we were given a controlling interest in the company.

Joe nodded enthusiastically and said, “Actually, I was thinking Marvel should become Smash! I’m as bored with Spider-Man as everyone else is, so let’s just get rid of him and whatever the X-Men are doing — I mean, does anyone know? I’m the honcho of the company and I stopped reading X-Men comics back in ’92. So anyways, we’ll just publish all-Smash, all the time! What do you say?”

We said the coffee was gone and it was time for a refill. And off Joe went.

By the end of the day, we’d signed the exclusive deal with Marvel.

At which point lawyers for DC Comics threatened swift and merciless retaliation. We agreed to a settlement, and now you can expect an entire line of Smash vs. DC one-shots this fall. The name hasn’t been decided on, but we hear the top two candidates are:

1) Smash Crisis

2) Absolutely, Positively, We-Really-Mean-It (Since Nobody’s Buying These Things Anyway) Final Last Never-Again Crisis

I’m sure you share our excitement in seeing how painfully and messily our pint-sized superhero can dismantle the old-timers at DC. We’ll even let him sleep in the Batcave once he’s pounded Wayne Manor into dust.

Anyway, you can read all about it right here. We look forward to seeing you at the comic shops!

[Update: In case anyone missed the link or didn't check the date... April Fool's!]

Easy On the Eyes

by on March 30, 2009 at 11:56 am
Posted In: Uncategorized


Welcome, Scott McCloud readers!

We are truly honored to have Smash‘s comic reader recommended by the author of such seminal books on comics history (and its future) as Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art and Reinventing Comics.

In case you missed it, Scott wrote:

In reference to our earlier thread on formats, I think for those who choose a screen-fitting page-to-page approach, the format SMASH uses is one of the better ways to go.

Designed for photo slideshows, I assume (at least that’s where I usually see it) but a nice fit for long-form comics.

If you’d like to see the reader in action, we recommend you start right here. And if you care to drop us a line, we’d love to know what you think!

I wrote a comment with a bit more information:
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