The Year 2024

 

Hey there everyone,

With the new year starting, I want to let everyone know what to expect this year. First off, I am looking at for sure two conventions to be going at and both are in Fargo ND. I am also looking into another convention somewhere else. Minnesota might not be possible but I am looking into South Dakota too.

Secondly, I am expecting to get another couple of comics published. Vampire Bloodlines issue 7 and 8 are for sure on tap to be made this year but I am also looking at other artists to work on side projects to get other comics made and out to you.

Third, with there being a lot of good responses to Eternal Beat, I am looking at giving Jazmine her own story and series. I have a little bit of an idea that I will be doing but I need to flush this out with my editor and beloved sister, Tera.

Fourth, I really need to be working on doing updates to this website more so my goal this year is to at least do one monthly post. Maybe I am not the only one you will hear from too. I will ask Tera if she might be able to say some upcoming words about work that is going on as well as Avi, the main artist I am having to make the comic book pages after I write the scripts. It would be up to them if they would like to do so.

Thank you all for being there for me in this incredible adventure. I hope to get up a team page that will talk about the main team members here very soon. I do hope you enjoy my photo. It was taken by MC Illusion Photography.

Update!

Hey there everyone,

Wow it has been so long since I have updated this site. This is where my beloved sister says “It is about time.” and smacks me with a pillow. LOL. (BTW Love you SisTera.)

I want to let everyone know that I have updated the site with a couple of new things. One, I updated and added to the Eternal Beat section to show of a little bit more to that book. Second, the Vampire Bloodlines section now has the looks for Issue 6. There is one cover missing on that so be aware. Because of me missing one cover, the kickstarter for issue 6 isn’t going to be until September.

Another website update. I am putting in a new section in where I will have the Cosplay Model section. There you will see the cosplay models that have done covers and it will talk a little bit about them. I am hoping to get it up and running sometime this weekend.

I think that is about it for updates that I can think of. Have a great night.

Minnesota Con 2023 Blog

This past weekend, June 1st through the 4th of 2023, I went down to Minnesota Con with my dad who helped me out at my table. I am going to go through a day by day breakdown of what happened. 

June 1st

The first day. I feel like I am in The Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask. (if you know the story of the game, you get the reference). Me and my dad got the car loaded, which was a very small car, a Kia Soul, and we drove over 3 hours down to Minneapolis MN to where Minnesota Con is located at. The trip was actually pretty fast as we only had to stop once for gas. The very first thing we did when we got to the city is we went to a restaurant that my high school friend, (and senior prom date), established with a huge good cause behind it.

The restaurant is called All Square, it is a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich shop. (If you wish to learn more about All Square check out the link. https://www.allsquarempls.com/ ) The very first thing we did when we got there was to ask for my friend, owner, and CEO, Emily. Unfortunately we had just missed her. I know it has been over 20 years since she saw my dad and I haven’t seen her since she got married. The staff there asked if I was trying to call ahead and I informed them that I had but no success in making contact. It was disappointing but I know that Emily is a very busy woman. We stayed for a very late lunch/early dinner and got a couple of sandwich baskets. I loved the atmosphere of the place as it seemed like everyone was having a good time and smiling. The staff was just excellent and the music was pumping to reflect the good time they were having. We were not used to that as it did make it hard for us to talk to each other when we sat at our table but that is a very minor and honestly didn’t take away from the experience thanks to the staff that was there and how they were enjoying themselves. The man working the grill, (sorry I didn’t catch your name) I called a chef and I had to give him a lot of props. The sandwich I got, the Jerk, was delicious and the fries were honestly the best fries I ever had. My dad had the Plane Jane as he isn’t too much into spice. I did let him taste my sandwich which wasn’t very spicy at all. It was very mild and held a pretty good flavor. He liked it too. We said our goodbyes to the great staff and made our way to the Minneapolis Convention Center next.

Once there, we unloaded and set up the table. It didn’t take us very long thanks to how we were packed so we were in and out. We checked into the hotel that was just a block and a half away and called it a day.

June 2nd – Day 1 of Minnesota Con

Day one of the convention was a big day for a reason that I will explain later on in this blog. We got to the convention and set up the table for business. When they started opening the doors the people came in and the game was on. I had great booth neighbors and we were able to chat all day/convention long. It wasn’t until the afternoon that the guest cosplayers showed for the convention. My dad was the first to talk with some of them. One of which is Cara Nicole, aka AZPowerGirl. He told me that she knew a little bit about me and that blew my mind. Here is this guest of the convention and she knew of me. Mind you at this time, I didn’t know her at all. So when my dad was able to cover the table, I walked over to Cara’s table. I saw a poster that was hanging that I thought the style was familiar with and it felt like a Jyn Leonard line art with someone else as the colorist. Mind you I am seeing this from a big of a distance as well as looking through people. I asked Cara ,“Jyn?” I respond by saying Jyn Leonard. Cara smiled and said no that it was all of Alfred’s design. She also said she didn’t bring anything that Jyn did to the convention but wished she did. Cara then told me she knows of me directly and that just once again blew my mind. She had told me that she had been talking with Jyn and Ivy and conversations came up about my work. She even told me that Alfred was even watching me as he liked the work I was doing. This really made me tongue tied and I wonder if I was blushing pretty hard. Finding out all of this really made my weekend. We did some more talking as we eventually got a photo together. Overall, I felt like I made a new friend in Cara and I think my dad did too. Cara is such a huge sweetheart. I owe Jyn and Ivy such a big thank you too as they were talking about me to other people in the business of independent comics. I returned to my booth and gave her a compilation book of Vampire Bloodlines to Cara. That wasn’t the end of the people I met.

I was able to meet up with someone I hadn’t seen since Valley Con 2021, Tom Nguyen, a comic book artist who has done covers for Marvel and DC. It was a brief get together and he said that he has been meaning to get in touch with me when I messaged him online but he too has been very busy. He has a comic book coming out too very soon too and they will be doing a live stream for its release. I then got to talking to him about doing a cover for me for issue 6. He asked me when I needed it but I returned asking what his schedule was like. He said he wasn’t open until July and I gritted a little as I was hoping that I could get my next kickstarter up by the end of the month or beginning of July. Knowing that I want Tom to do this, I made the decision to say let’s do it. We made the deal and he gave me a way to contact him better and we would meet up again this weekend.

I also got to meet other lovely cosplayers Ashlynnedae, Krystal Starr (Who is also part of Lego Masters), Hannah Eva, and Kola Bear Cosplay. I was able to shake hands with Rikishi and talk with him about the fall he took while in the Hell in a Cell match and thank him for all he did. I was able to give my condolences to Austin St. John for the loss of Jason David Frank and we were able to talk a little bit about how suicide affected us and those we have seen around us. I think we gained respect between each other as we were able to share our experience. Overall with the people I talked with on this day, it was a very good day.

June 3rd – Day 2 of Minnesota Con

This day started off very fun as the hotel we were staying at had a very interesting way to wake people up on this day. The fire alarm. It went off at 8 am and we all had to leave the building. Got to see some people walk out of the building mid shower as they were all wrapped up in towels. There were two witness accounts but they were different. One is that someone went out the fire exit and the other was that there was smoke down on the first or second floor. Fire department was there within minutes and cleared the building. 

Again this was another very good day overall. Not sales wise, a theme overall when it comes to sales. But I felt like I had many people taking me under their wing. Some of the biggest advice I got, and I felt like she really took me under her wing was Cara herself. She was pointing out all the mistakes I made and told me what I needed to do to help me out. We didn’t have the supplies that she was telling me about but she was also telling me that I need everything at eye level and it needs to pop to bring people in. Right at this moment, my feeling of being grateful went up tenfold as I learned a lot from her. It wasn’t just Cara that was teaching me. I was being taught also by a booth neighbor, Triforce. They are a cosplay prop company about what I need to invest in and how to bring people in. They told me that I talked well about my product and storyline but the theme I was getting was I need to have something that appeals to the eyes to draw people in. The common lesson I got from more than just Cara and the great people from Triforce. There were many more that were helping me out with suggestions to help my table and I took them all to heart.

It was also here that I got back to Tom’s booth and I talked about him doing a commission away from cover I wanted him to do. He said he had an opening and to give him the details. I was wearing my new shirt that had Ivy on it in Bianca’s armor when I had her cosplay that. He brought it up if I wanted that. I told him I want Bianca but if he wanted to use Ivy as the base look then that would be fine. I was just wanting Bianca in her armor. Deal was made and done. I wasn’t able to get it at the convention but I made arrangements the next day with Tom to have it mailed to me when it was completed. 

My day also had me getting more advice from someone else who is a comic book creator. He is Nick Palodichuk. We did a trade for my comic book as well as he did a sketch of Bianca. I got the physical sketch from him near the end of the day and it was awesome. Thank you so much. 

Some other things was that I was able to get a photo with AEW Star Julia Hart, got her permission to put her in a piece of art with one of my characters, had Ashlynne visit my table and just gush over Eternal Beat and the outfit that is in it. I handed her a copy and the way she lit up just made my smile huge.

The day would come to an end and it was a good day overall.

June 4th – Day 3 of Minnesota Con

Day three was the last day and it almost started pretty bad for me. I woke up in the middle of the night with an acid reflux attack that came totally unexpected. The meal I had the night previous had a lot of acid in it so that is where I am guessing it came from. I spent an hour fighting my body to control it so I didn’t start coughing and throwing up for about 30 minutes. 

The day was pretty slow but I was able to converse more with Ashlynne. I asked her if she was able to check out Eternal Beat but she said she wasn’t able to as she promised. I understood as there were no issues about that. She did say that she would let me know what she thinks of it and I am excited to hear her thoughts. A fan who checked out my table brought up the idea of hiring Ashlynne and that got her excited as she said she was interested too. I said to her that I am open to it but I did ask if she wanted Vampire Bloodlines to know more about my world. She said please so for research purposes, I gave her a compilation book and got another big smile.

I was able to also get to talk with Cara more and really got to know each other more. I think I like the whole part where she asked me about pancakes or waffles. I told her waffles because I prefer a crunch, even as pancakes and waffles are or can be the same in terms of the batter used. She told me that she did too but hated if the waffles got soggy. I agreed and said they were not waffles anymore then. I continued my conversation with her and could easily feel a friendship starting. I have nothing but the highest respect and love for Cara as well as Alfred as I was able to talk with him a little bit. We will all be talking in the future as we will be working together very soon and I am excited for it.

Julia Hart came walking around and took a look at Eternal Beat and she liked Avi’s artwork. She also told her friend about me about having something done with her in it. I am having David do this. So everyone can be on the lookout for that.

Overall Experience

Lows – Well I did have a couple of lows at this convention. Because of my inexperience, sales were not so hot. At first I started to get down on myself wondering what I was doing wrong. However, thanks to people like Cara, Nick, and the people at Triforce, it curbed my feelings and I took in what they were teaching me. It was still a low but the experience and the knowledge I gained was huge. It turned this low into a highlight. I know I am missing a few others that helped out and to you I am very grateful as well. The other low and this was big for me and my dad. The chairs they had for us, SUCKED! The chairs were small and it felt like I was going to fall through the chair. It was cheap plastic and my legs were pinned against the framework of the chair. It was like we could only spend a couple of minutes sitting in it before we had to stand up. I have a bad back and so does my dad so we are both in the boat too where we couldn’t stand for too long either without pain. So it was a damned if you do damned if you don’t

Highs – OMG where do I begin with this? Well let’s start off with Cara. If you read this my friend, you are an absolute legend. I am so very grateful for all that you have done for me by taking me under your wing when it comes to conventions and other things that we talked about. I don’t know if I can ever say thank you enough. I feel like I owe a debt that is impossible for me to ever repay. You are one of the nicest people that I was able to meet and I feel like we have a friendship growing just as much as I have with Ivy, Jyn, Avi, and many others. I am so blessed to have you share your knowledge and the time we were able to talk together. I really hope we get to meet again…really soon. 

Tom is always a pleasure to meet and talk with and the fact that he is doing a cover and an image for me of Bianca in her armor is amazing. If you want an idea of what Tom will do for the cover of issue 6, look at Rachel’s cosplay cover for inspiration. 

Triforce and Nick both gave me so much in terms of knowledge that it is something that I can’t say thank you enough. Overall there were a lot of good to great people willing to help me out and give me advice as I am still very new to this. It is why it turned not doing well in sales into a positive in the knowledge.  If you wish to check out Triforce, here is their store link. www.triforcecutlery.com as well as Nick’s Ig page. www.instagram.com/npalodichuk

I know there was a lot that I missed and if I didn’t mention you, I apologize. There was so much good and fun going on that I couldn’t keep track. Hell, trying to remember the proper order was tough enough. Know that no matter what, you held an impact on me and I am very grateful. Thank you so much.

A Brand New Poster

All that needs to be said. Thank you to everyone involved

My Next Convention

I will be at this year’s Minnesota Con at the Minneapolis Convention Center. I will be having my comics, Vampire Bloodlines and Eternal Beat there for sale and you can come meet me. I will also be showing off some exclusive images of the upcoming issue of Vampire Bloodlines #6. I look forward to seeing you all there. Mark the dates, June 2nd – June 4th.

Happy Birthday Tera

 

Today is my beloved sister, Tera S’s birthday and I must say that she means a lot to me. Not only has she helped me build this wonderful world into more that I could have ever thought possible, but she has taken me into her family and shown me nothing but love. While she will say that I never have to do anything for her, I still do it for her out of love. After all, even through all the pitchforking, or in my case, the pillow smacks, I still always look to make her do this.

Smile

These past couple of years have been trying times for everyone. You have a pandemic going on that is making people sick, you have politics tearing apart families, even to something I think is stupid like taking sides on which in a drama is in the right. That doesn’t matter to me as I know that my sister, the queen of the realm, Tera, has been worried. The family is hurting and the prayers being put out for healing are being put out there. Still, I know that I must do more.

Ever since we met, I have been doing birthday presents for my beloved sister and she has always seemingly known what I am doing. Even now in these trying times, I suspect that she knows that I have something going on for her. 

Her suspicions are right but only to an extent. While I am doing what I have traditionally done for her, I wanted to do something that would be welcomed and maybe bring some ray of light on this stormy day. 

While I have her gift in hand, I make my way out of the cabin by the lake I live by, in the realm. I’m traveling by foot to the cabin where my beloved sister is staying as that is how I always travel. My partner, the tail that has become part of me, remains quiet as we make our way to her place. We both know what is going on and what I am determined to get today. Even if I have to hold my sister upside down to get it.

The realm was indeed raining with storm clouds bringing in thunder and lightning. I am holding her gift under my coat so that the wrapping paper doesn’t get wrecked and give away what I had done for her. It would be a long walk to where I need to go and I was sure going to be soaked to the bone and maybe witnessing Tera pull out the ‘Pillow of Doom’ she has custom made for situations like these.

It took some time but when I got to the home of Tera and Keith, I was greeted with the sight of my brother first. He offered out to me his hand but I would have none of it. I pulled him into a hug and I could feel his conflicted emotions. So much has happened to them and it continues to happen. Keith, forever a man of confidence, is ever assuring that everything is going to be okay. Still I can feel those emotions coming from him.

Even through all of that, just that embrace, the hug of a brother, he smiled, and welcomed me into the cabin to see the birthday girl.

I walked into the cabin to see a sister that I love, full of worry just like that of her eternal. I couldn’t blame her as I know what is going on and I feel for her. Even the tail feels what I am and we are both always there for her. 

My beloved sister is sitting on the couch looking at something, I couldn’t tell what. I wasn’t going to ask either. If it was something that could bring out her emotions in a way that wasn’t good, I didn’t want to do that to her. I want to bring something good right now. I wanted to shine a ray of positivity on her.

I didn’t need to say anything as my beloved sister looked up at me and she gave a smile. That wonderful glorious smile that only she can give and then she saw the gift that was wrapped up in my coat…as well as me being soak and wet.

“You know, I should smack you for this.” she said to me.

“For what? Walking in the rain and getting you a gift?” I said as I handed her the birthday gift I got for her.

Tera took the gift into her hands and smiled at me. I smiled back knowingly as she never expects anything like this to happen and she always makes it a point to tell me so. I stubbornly tell her that I know and that still wasn’t going to stop me from doing something nice for my family. 

She took the time to open my gift and saw the frame. Inside of it was a piece of art that I had a friend of ours, one we both admire, respect, and love. It brought a smile onto her face and it was the best thing I could ever see. Before she could say anything, I reached out for her wrist, pulled her up out of the couch she was sitting in, and into my arms.

I gave my beloved sister the biggest hug I could offer that held all of the love I could have for her and that moment, she gave her best smile and rested her head upon my chest. 

It was then she told me two words. “Thank you.”

“We are family, my beloved sister. We will always go out of our way and beyond for those whom we love. You know this better than anyone.”

“I know but still.”

I took a bold step. I put my finger upon her lips and shook my head. It made Tera’s smile become more bemused.

“I can’t ask for anything more than my big bear being here with me to help protect me and make me smile.”

“I try.”

Rentnarb Studios Comics Review of Bloodlines 3

Review below of Rentnarb Studios Comics Review of Bloodlines 3

Hey there everyone. I got this review from Rentnarb Studios and it is great to hear that someone has enjoyed the work and passion that me and the others have put into this. If you want to see more of his work, here is his YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/peterpanvampire

 

Issue Four

Hey there everyone. Its been a long time since I have updated this site. Allow me to show you the covers for the next issue. The normal cover is up top and moving down, the cosplay cover features Vampirephilia, next is the Keith Garvey Cover, finally there is the Ellioth Garcia cover.

New Covers

It has been a while since I have made an update but I have been very busy. So allow me to show you some of the covers that are for Issue 2 and 3 that were made.

This is a limited edition cover that was done by Pema Mendez.

This cover was done by Lance Footer.

Now onto issue 3 covers.

This is the main cover.

This is a cover done by Jennifer L Leonard (drawing) and Omero Nunez (colors).

Finally the cover that was done by Keith Garvey.

New Variant Cover

A few days ago, I was contacted by an artist who is a friend of Ivy Cosplay, one of the cosplay models you have seen as a cover. Well, the artist I was contacted by is Lance Footer. He has working on covers for Marvel and DC and he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Enjoy the first cover that this artist has done. Please check out his Twitter page  here https://twitter.com/FooterLance and his Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/theartoflancefooter. This will be a limited print and will be a part of the second kickstarter as a bundle.