Crozonia Update

Gary Cohen (Editor), John Montenegro (Colourist), Dan Rivera (Colourist), and I are hard at work on finishing the third issue. It's going to be a scorcher of a comic book. I will post the 2 covers soon. Unfortunately, I will not be attending Wizard World Chicago. So to the Crozonia fans from the mid-west, I extremely apologize. Issue 3 will be available to order online at DMF Comics.

I will be attending San Diego Comicon International and be a part of the Arcana booth. Crozonia hasn't been exhibited in the West Coast. Issue 3 will premiere at Fan Expo Canada.

Regards,
Jim

Order The Art of ReBoot at comic book stores NOW!

The Art of ReBoot is almost out! But to ensure your local comic book store has one, PLEASE go there and tell them you want the book! Do it before April 14! Use this code: APR073377

April is the month of ReBoot

The solicitation for the Art of ReBoot appears in the April edition of the Previews Catalogue. I will scan the page and the order number. The catalogue just came out today, which means we have from now until the end of April to raise as much awareness about the book and get comic book retailers to order it. If you are a fan, PLEASE spread the word. Better yet, go to your local comic book store and order a copy!

We have three upcoming shows to spread the word:
Arcana Studios is exhibiting at the Emerald City Comicon in Seattle on March 31 -April 1 2007 at Booth #406.
DMF Comics/Punch Brand is exhibiting at Sakura Con also in Seattle on April 6-8 at Booth# 130.
I will be a guest at the Toronto Comicon on April 13-15 in the Artist Alley.

Firehouse Dog premieres April 4th!

After The Wild, I worked on Firehouse Dog for Core Digital Pictures for 6 months. I rigged, modeled and animated the CGI stunt dog. During this time I also worked on Silent Hill. I had a great time working on these two movies because the experience was new. For the first six years of my CGI career, I had worked exclusively on CGI toons. Getting to work with live plates, doing tracking work was refreshing. It's one of the main reasons I decided to leave CORE in November to work on Resident Evil 3 for Mr. X.

ReBoot Canadian Premiere and Crozonia news

This weekend, Hobbystar hosts the Toronto AnimeCON with various anime guests, UDON Comics, and the ReBoot artbook!


March 17-18th, 2007
Metro Toronto Convention Centre North Building
255 Front St. West

Animecon Hours
Saturday : 11:00am - 6:00pm
Sunday : 11:00am - 6:00pm

Admission is free! This is the first chance for Canadians to pick up the Art of ReBoot! Also, I will be displaying the cover to Crozonia Issue #3!

New York Comic Con Report

I had more success at this year's New York Comic Con than last year, but the sales for Crozonia were still not as good compared to Chicago and Toronto. I'm not sure if it's because this show is a more corporate tradeshow like San Diego Comic Con, than the "flea market" sales bonanza that Chicago and Toronto are.
I sold about 80 Crozonia #1 and 80 Crozonia #2. A far lower total than Chicago or Toronto. Just like those shows, there were alot of people who came up to buy Issue 2 after buying the first issue last year! This is the real indicator that people enjoy my work! I would like to thank those people who bought the first issue and stuck around for issue 2. Thanks so much for the support. It makes a little indy artist like me feel big!
I also exhibited the Art of ReBoot, a Beach Studios co-production with Arcana and DMF. Altogether, we sold 82 copies of the artbook. That's a decent number considering the price point of $24. I was also able to sell around 20 ReBoot posters.

Upcoming Conventions

The New York Comic Con is shaping up to be a HUGE event! Stan Lee and Steven King are guests of honour! I will be there at Artist Alley 147 selling Crozonia Issue 1 & 2, as well as premiering The Art of ReBoot! See you in New York!

The Art of ReBoot

The last few months have been really busy working on the Art of ReBoot. Sean O' Reilly from Arcana Studio scanned over 600 images, Jason Park from DMF Comics and I laid out and designed over 100 pages! This book will be a must-have on every ReBoot fan's list. It will be available at www.rebootart.com in late February 2007, and go into wider distribution over the summer. Jason designed the awesome website. Check it out and sign up on our mailing list!

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