ReBoot Announcement THIS SUNDAY at Toronto AnimeCON

Beach Studios on the rise! Latest News:

Beach Studios is quickly emerging as one of the top comic book creative studios in Toronto. Since the Fan Expo in September, we have worked on:
- More great packaging work for Mattel.
- Packaging work for a new client, Canadian toy company Spin Masters!
- Arcana, Canada's largest comic book publisher teamed up with Beach Studios and DMF Comics to work on an ongoing illustration project for Nerd Corps Entertainment.
- Crozonia Issue 3 is on schedule for release in mid 2007.
- Beach Studios is also entering into the CG creative services, doing Facial CG work for a Hollywood feature film coming out in 2007.
- Beach Studios also acquired the license from Mainframe Entertainment to this ReBoot Poster! On sale soon!

Crozonia Issue #3 - 2007

Drool.

The Word on the Street Toronto Recap

I exhibited at The Word on the Street festival yesterday, and overall the sales were great! Thanks to everyone who bought an issue of Crozonia! Just like Fan Expo, there were many people who came just looking for Issue 2! Thanks for waiting.
Festivals such as these are great for measuring how the general public buys my products. The sketchbooks and posters didn't sell too well, but the issues were flying off the table! Most people who bought Crozonia for the first time, bought both issues for the $5 deal.
I also admire the public for braving the rain during the afternoon. The rain didn't seem to stop the sales. We just moved our table back to give our buyers some shelter! I had great fun!

Sales Report:
Total books - 152
Issue 1 - 72
Issue 2 - 79
Sketchbooks - 1
Posters - 3

Fan Expo Photos

Here are some photos from the Fan Expo!



The snazzy new entrance to the show.



This is my table in the artist alley. It's modest, but effective. I will be getting another banner and a more elaborate display for next year's convention season. That's fellow artist Julio del Hierro, working hard.



Kijin, my expert inking assistant.



I do the sketches, Julio takes my calls.



Some fans gripe about the Expo. But this guy's head is on a stick!



One of the many free sketches I did.



Bobby Chiu, one of the heavy hitters in the artist alley.



The Crozonia Crew, from left: Jim Su : West Coast Skillz, Julio Del Hierro : Viva La Razza, Ben Su: Make fun of my haircut, but I just scored a sketch from Jim Lee! Mofo!

Fan Expo Canada Recap

Fan Expo Canada was this past weekend (Sept 1-3), and it was truly an incredible show! I sold 278 books in total! 112 first issues, 149 Second issues, and 17 Sketchbooks. I also sold 34 Posters. On the downside, just like Chicago, new readership was down because I sold 195 first issues last year. This means there is a cieling for the marketthat is willing to an indy book. This means I need to go to uncharted territory next season such as Motor City Comic-con (Detroit) in May, and Comic-Con International (San Diego) in July. I got to chat with some big name industry guys, and bump into guys I hadn't seen in years, and learned from Brian Michael Bendis that an Omega Flight series is launching next year!
Photos coming soon!

Demented Poster: I'm lovin' it.

Here is the first demented love child of the DMF/Beach Studios alliance:

Get it while it's hot! Available first at Fan Expo Canada, Sept 1-3.

Fist Full of Comics

Here is an audio (mp3) intervies I did with www.fistfullofcomics.com during Wizard World Chicago. Enjoy!

DMF Comics

DMF Comics is a local Toronto comic book publisher that puts out a small but diverse array of comic books. They also offer creative services, so DMF colourist Peter Kostka has been helping colour both Issue #1 and #2 of Crozonia. He also helps colour my Mattel freelance work. There has been great synergy between DMF and myself. We help each other find printers, share post-production knowledge, and have gone together on convention trips such as Chicago and New York.During Chicago, we discussed taking advantage of these synergies and creating a formal alliance between DMF Comics, Inc. and Beach Studios.
Here are some things we have planned for this formal alliance.

- Our artwork and creative properties will be appearing more often in each other's products. For instance, Mechanika #1, an artbook by Jimbing will feature a pinup of Crozonia's Princess Acaste. I will be unveiling a poster of their flagship title Demented: Scorpion Child.

- DMFComics.com will be a portal to beach-studios.com and crozonia.com

- The Crozonia online store will eventually migrate to a new and improved DMF online store. More products such as posters will be available for sale due to their shipping capabilities.

- Unified appearance at major comic book conventions such as Fan Expo Canada. Look for a major DMF/Beach Studios set up in the Artist Alley and Corporate Area!

So what happens to future issues of Crozonia? Nothing changes really. Crozonia will still be printed under the Beach Studios banner unless I find a larger publisher to carry Crozonia for global distribution.

Wizard World Chicago Photos

A big THANK YOU to everyone who purchased a book from me this past weekend!

The trip to Chicago was a success from a creative and financial standpoint. Unlike New York, I actually turned a profit after travel expenses and table costs were figured in. But New York is where I made alot of business contacts. Chicago is more flea market than trade show. My highlight of the show was meeting lots of IFL fighters, talking to Thomas Jane (The Punisher) about printing costs, and meeting some Marvel and DC editors. I also met Sean O Reilly from Arcana Studios, the largest Canadian Comic Book Publisher.


Here is my table in the Artist Alley. It's a bit Flea Market, but that's my strategy to sell. Other tables are nice and neat, with one display book on the table. But I've found when you spread books out on a table, it's more inviting for people to browse around.


I did free sketches all weekend long. But you had to buy a book!




Acaste headshot.


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Wizard World Entrance.





Best costume at the show!


MMA: The next big thing.



2nd best costumes!



Carlos Newton, coach of the Toronto Dragons. Represent!



The Bas.



My former employer, Mainframe Entertainment from Vancouver was there.



Arcana from Vancouver.



My current employer, Mattel.



Linsner booth.



Local Chicago company, Devils Due.



Van City, West Coast SKILLZ!



Renaissance suites for only $99/night! You can't go wrong with that!



This is what the locals eat. They don't live very long...



Tim Hortons in Michigan. This means the Motherland is close by.

The Watcher Signing

The Watcher Comics is a nice little store on Queen St.in the Beaches. The challenge posed at the signing was getting people to come down.I think I caught lightning in a bottle and from a creative standpoint, it was a success. Dave, the owner of the store, was very impressed with how many people came down. New faces that have never stepped foot in a comic book store. From a sales perspective, I could have sold more. It was a family event so I was doing free sketches and wasn't trying to hustle sales. I'm saving that for the conventions!

Year 2 Sales Report

Keep track of my Year 2 sales progress here:

Event	Issue 1	Issue 2	Watermarks Sketchbook	Poster
CORE Sneak Peak! July 24, 2006	7	12	-	-
The Watcher Comics Issue 2 Premiere July 29 2006	28	10	2	-
Chicago Wizard World August 3-6 2006	109	107	22	12
Fan Expo Canada September 1-3 2006	112	149	17	34
Toronto Word on the Street September 24 2006	-	-	-	-
New York Comic-Con February 23-25 2007	-	-	-	-
Year 2 Internet Sales	1	5	-	-

Unconfirmed:
Toronto Comicon
San Diego Comic-Con International
Philadelphia Wizard World

Crozonia Issue 2 is available now!

Just got the books from the printers, and once again, they did a stellar job. Crozonia Issue 2 is now available in the online store through PayPal! You do NOT need a PayPal account to purchase books online. Just a credit card will do.

Crozonia Online Store

Sketch Card Update

The Sketch cards from Vista Print turned out great! The printing was great, and should make a nice giveaway, or a collectors piece if I sketch on the back of it. As always, here is the price breakdown:


Oversized Postcards (8.5" x5.5")
Quantity 1000 for 99.00 US
Image Upload fee 9.98
Shipping 13.03
Canadian Taxes 20.65 CAN
Total $141.45 US

I'm sure there may be better quotes available, but this price is pretty good.
Get your free sketch card at The Watcher Comics Premiere!

Crozonia Issue 2 Premieres at The Watcher Comics, July 29

The second issue of Crozonia will make it's premiere at The Watcher Comics,
during the Toronto Beaches Jazz Festival on Saturday July 29!

Jim Su, local Beach artist of Crozonia, will be doing free sketches, giving away free postcards, and autographing copies of his latest book. The Beaches Jazz Festival is one of Toronto's largest events, as over half a million visitors gather on Queen Street to enjoy great music, great food, and now great comics!

It's going to be a great event! and great for the kids!
Saturday July 29, 3-5pm, 7-9pm
The Watcher Comics, 2219 Queen St East

Ashcan Artbook

I am currently producing an ashcan Artbook that will have lots of goodies. Here's the cover. 32 pages, B&W + Colour Cover. $5

Sketch Card

I am printing oversized postcards that are 8.375" x 5.333. The back will be white with the logo and website address (www.crozonia.com). I will be marketing them as Crozonia Sketch Cards. From now on, I will only sketch exclusive on the back of these cards. They will be sold for $5 each. A pretty cool collectible!

The print run on these cards is 1000 for $110 + Shipping. If there are better deals out there, let me know! These cards will be sold for only $1 each at conventions. For special events such as Word On The Street and the Issue 2 Premiere at The Watcher Comics on July 29, they will be given away for free! More details on the Premiere soon.

Issue 2 Update

Production on Crozonia Issue 2 will wrap up in a couple of days! I will be sending the disk to the printers some time this week. For those of you interested in the printing details, H&E Copy will once again be printing the book.

The specs are:
-8pt cardstock cover
-28 page interior - 801b glossy paper
-3000 print run
$3500 CAN

I was able to get a better price than the first issue because I was a returning customer. The unit cost per book for Issue 2 was $1.33 CAN compared to $1.53 CAN for Issue 1. This is largely attributed because I reduced the number of interior pages from 32 to 28 to save $350. There's also the 1% GST cut starting July 1. Woohoo!

This should also help with mailing costs. Issue 1 (with bag, board, envelope) wieghed in at 161 g, slightly over the 150g limit for letter mail. Having 4 less pages should put it under the wieght limit, or I might have to downgrade the cover.

Matchbox Missions on sale now!

Exclusive to Toys R Us around the world!

Crozonia Sales Year 1

Toronto Comicon marks the end of Crozonia Year 1, where I debuted the first full colour issue.
Hope this sales data is usefull for other publishers. It's certainly been usefull for me.

Event	Issue 1	Issue 2 Ashcan Preview	Poster
CORE Sneak Peak! August 2 2005	25	-
Chicago Wizard World August 4-6 2005	184	-
Fan Expo Canada August 26-28 2005	195	-	22
Toronto Word on the Street September 25 2005	87	-	5
New York Comic-Con February 24-26 2006	138	35	10
Toronto Comicon April 24 2006	48	21	7

Toronto Comicon Sales

Yesterday I exhibited at the Toronto Comicon. The exhibitor room (Constitution Hall at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre) was about 1/3 the size Fan Expo (Formerly Canadian National Expo). Fortunately I benefitted from repeat customers for Crozonia having "sown the seeds" in Toronto last summer. Even though I didn't have Issue 2 ready, alot of people were quick to buy the Issue 2 Preview Ashcan. I
Hopefuly this bodes well in Chicago.


Sales:
Issue 1 - 48
Issue 2 Ashcans - 21
Posters - 7

Two Movies, and a Convention.

This weekend, Silent Hill premieres. Look for the grey child transformation. I worked on that shot. Then there's the second weekend of The Wild. And on Sunday, there's the Toronto Comicon where I will be exhibiting Crozonia. Sales data to come.

Disney's The Wild in theatres now!

This is the movie that I worked on for two and a half years! It is the largest animated production in Canadian history! Please check it out!
Official website at disney.com/thewild

Cover to Crozonia Issue 2

Coming this July!

Matchbox Package Illustrations

Some of my Matchbox illustrations from last year are finally appearing in toy stores. Eventually I will have a mini site with all the Matchbox illustrations that I'm allowed to show. Here are some photos:

Production Page

I have posted a production page to track the progress of Crozonia Issue 2. There's only 4 months left to finish up Issue 2, send it to the printers in time for Chicago Wizard World in the beginning of August. Production Page

New York Comic-Con Report

This is the first time my wife, Kijin and I have been to New York. We absolutely loved it! Saw an off Broadway musical called the Altar Boys. Brilliant and halarious. I highly recommend it. Went to Korea Town often and had some great meals there.
As for my overall impressions of New York Comic-Con, I can say it was well run and the organizers at Reed Expo did all they can to make it successfull. In fact, a little TOO successfull. There was overcrowding on Saturday, so people were turned down admission to the show. Even though the show was busy, I found that my sales were down from Toronto and Chicago. This was probably due to a variety of factors. First, I shared a table with another artist. So instead of a 6' table, I was only working with a 3' table. And I had nowhere to put my banner other than behind my seat. That was unfortunate because many people passed by the table, and I had to work hard to get people's attention. By the end of Saturday, I was exhuasted. The second factor is the limited time. I had do leave three hours early on Sunday to catch my flight, so that cut into the sales as well.
Issue 1 @ $3.00 : 138 sold
Issue 2 Ashcan @ $2.00 : 35 sold
Posters @ $10.00 : 10 sold

Eventually I'll add a chart to my website for aspiring publishers to compare sales. Hopefully it will be valuable information for them.

Ready for New York Comic-Con

This week was really busy! Over at Core DP, I am working on two movies, Silent Hill and Firehouse Dog. Then I had a last minute Mattel freelance project that I couldn't turn down. But I still managed to get the Issue 2 Preview printed yesterday, and boy does it look good! It will be onsale for only $2. Comes with an 11 page preview, and some pinups and sketches. The full colour version of Crozonia Issue 2 will debut in Chicago Wizard World.
If there are some books left over from New York, I will make them available at the online store.

New York or Bust!

Oh yeah! New York Comic-Con is only a few weeks away (Feb 24-26). There will be an exclusive ashcan printed just for this show. The cover may be in colour, still crunching down prices.

Some great Comic Book Stores!

Here are some of the comic book stores that picked up some issues of Crozonia #1. I'm greatfull for their support, especially since Crozonia isn't being distributed yet. Eventually, I will publish the retailer list in upcoming issues of Crozonia. Hopefully that list will grow.

Uncanny Comics - 227a First Street South, Kenora, Ontario
Silver Snail - 367 Queen St. W., Toronto
The Beguiling - 601 Markham St., Toronto, Ontario
Comics & More - 1325 Danforth Ave, Toronto, Ontario

Disney's The Wild Trailer now online!

The Trailer is now online! Tell me what you think of it!
www.movies.com

Disney's The Wild Trailer News

The trailer for The Wild will premiere on the internet Monday, January 9, on both
Disney.com and Movies.com. The theatrical trailer will premiere on January 13 with the opening of Hoodwinked and Glory Road.

Coal Cars

Happy New Year's! I'm going to change the purpose of this blog a little bit, and promote anything that graces my artwork. Last year, I worked on a lot of package art for Matchbox. Here's something that finally came out during the Christmas season!