Artist Steve Conley shares with us this detail of a commissioned drawing of an alternative Superman via an alternative cover to Action Comics No. 1.  "Went with a strongman-style costume with vest and toned-down action," Steve said on his Facebook page. 

Courtesy of Steve Conley

Steve Conley's Adventure Time comic covers.

I stopped in to the opening for the exhibit (details at the bottom) and got some shots of the gallery, curator Britt Conley and cartoonists Steve Conley and Kevin Rechin. Marty Baumann is in one shot, and I had put my camera away before Matt Wuerker got there. Nick Galifianakis is traveling, but had a lot of cartoons representing him.

Kevin Rechin.

Marty Baumann's work.

Matt Wuerker's work.

This is mostly an introductory show and all the art is reproductions. The students were enjoying it, and asking a lot of questions of the cartoonists.

Steve Conley and his new book.

More pictures are here.

FIVE FANTASTIC CARTOON ILLUSTRATORS!: A Look at Art, Process, Story and Design

FEATURING: The art of Marty Baumann (movie and advertising illustrator/Disney and Pixar), Steve Conley (Independent Cartoonist / Astounding Space Thrills, Bloop, Star Trek, Adventure Time, The Escapist etc.) Nick Galifianakis (syndicated illustrator for The Washington Post), Kevin Rechin (syndicated illustrator - Crock Comic Strip) and Matt Wuerker (2012 Pulitzer Prize Winner illustrator for POLITICO)

The Tyler Teaching Gallery (Room 270) at the Tyler Building at Northern Virginia Community College/Alexandria Campus. 3001 N. Beauregard Street. Parking lot B has paid parking $2.00 per hour.

On October 21st, a panel discussion will happen with the cartoonists at 7:30 pm.

District Comics panelists - Art Haupt, Rafer Roberts, Mike Cowgill, Andrew Cohen, Jacob Warrenfeltz, Mike Rhode, Carolyn Belefski and Troy-Jeffrey Allen.

The Con sold out of tickets by about 3 pm on Saturday. They had a good mix of people, and it was bustling. Lots of cartoonists tell me they did well. Nick Galifianakis sold out of his book. Dan Nokes made his table money back in an hour. John Gallagher and Steve Conley were always busy. Bill McKay's commission list went into tomorrow. Shannon Gallant seemed to stay busy with commissions too. Troy-Jeffrey Allen and Jay Payne launched Bamn #4. Carolyn Belefski was interviewed by Comic Riffs today too.

The District Comics panel had about 40 people in it, despite being opposite the costume judging contest. I think this has the potential to be similar to Baltimore CC in a few years.

BTW, New Jerseyan Jeff Shultz is selling his Archie pages for $20 each. I bought a nice volleyball page.

Here's some pictures.


Chris "Capes and Babes" Flick.



Dan Nokes has a new compilation book debuting at the show.


Nick Galifianakis on the way to selling out of his book.


Bill McKay.


A good looking Dalek vs Dr. Who. I thought Daleks were upside-down trashcans on wheels?


Starro the Conqueror - I loved this costume.


Big Planet Comics et al.


Steve Conley drawing Bloop in a Tardis.


Jason Axtell.

Here's a few - more of same (literally) on my Flickr site set. These are all from Saturday.


The hour-long line to get in.


Richard Thompson examining his free can of Monster drink during the hour-long wait to get in.


Star Wars costumes.


Andy Runton signing Owly. Photo by Claire.


Kids and comics - a natural.


Jeff Kinney signing Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Photo by Claire.


Danielle Corsetto.


Nathan Fox.


Steve Conley getting a book signed by Richard Thompson.


Don Rosa drawing Uncle Scrooge.

I talked to Steve and his wife (? sorry!) at the Baltimore Comic-Con. Steve's wrapped up Star Trek Year 4 and there's a trade of it now. While he was buying a book from Our Man Thompson, I talked with Mrs. Conley who said he's working on a 10th anniversary Astounding Space Thrills special - yeah! I loved the clean lines and goofy humor of the strip. Zot! is an obvious antecedent and if you liked that, try AST which is still online. She also mentioned his Socks and Barney political strip. I suggested he do a mini for SPX of this - he's still got a few days so pop onto the site and second it!