Get your dose of cuteness at Baltimore Comic-Con

Here is a sneak peek at some of the designs for my buttons I will be selling at the Baltimore Comic-Con. There is also a really great design not on the slide, a convention exclusive variant, but I can't preview it yet. Maybe after the show.

I'm excited to have created my own buttons and hopefully people will enjoy them. They will be at booth 79, along with Rob Reilly and John Brogilia. Come check out Reilly's books, prints, sketches, original artwork and a raffle. Reilly is also debuting a convention exclusive sketchbook, the "Lone Wolf Drink 'n Draw" filled with drawings done on many of his pub outings. Click on his name for a link to his site to see more info.

So swing buy and help me out, buy a button or two for your girlfriend or whatever you call her, and check out the eye-catching illustrations and sometimes racy sophmoric humor comic stylings of Rob Reilly.

Archaic: Indie Comic

Check out my friends' books! I'm so proud of them! They are way cool guys with a great book.

ARCHAIC, ISSUE 11 is listed in Previews now!
ARCHAIC 11: DCD ITEM NO: SEP07 3669


by James Abrams & Weshoyot Alvitre
ARCHAIC: THE STORM #2
The Sky falls -- changing the world of Archaic forever. A boy becomes a god, a girl becomes a demon, and thousands of people become dead. Chaos and destruction fill the streets as a child dances to marching feet!


Please check it out. If you like fantasy, adventure, science fiction or steam punk (even some "western" flavor mixed in) -- give Archaic a try. You may be pleasantly surprised by an indi comic.
Archaic (Fenickx Productions) is listed in Diamond's Previews Catalogue:
ARCHAIC 7: DCD ITEM NO: MAY07 3473
ARCHAIC 8: DCD ITEM NO: JUN07 3573
ARCHAIC 9: DCD ITEM NO: JUL07 3577
ARCHAIC 10: DCD ITEM NO: AUG07 3664
ARCHAIC 11: DCD ITEM NO: SEP07 3669

ARCHAIC. FENICKX PRODUCTIONS, LLC

Goodbye Mike Wieringo

While working on my computer today, I'm finding out some terrible news. Shockingly enough, Mike Wieringo has suffered a heart attack at the age of 44. Many of my artist friends are also saddened as Wieringo's art was a source of inspiration to them.

I never got to meet him in person, or get him to sign any of my Tellos' books. I have the whole series and I am disappointed to learn after posting a few new pencils of Tellos characters on his blog, he is suddenly taken away. I loved Tellos, in which he created with Todd Dezago, and on his blog he mentions returning to the series at some point. Now I guess that won't happen, at least not with him penciling.

On Sunday, I was not feeling well, and eating my first Krispy Kreme doughnuts, doing a little cleaning, playing some X-box 360, cooking and overall enjoying a bit of a lazy day. It's amazing that you could be doing all of that and one of your loved ones could be sick or hurt or dying and you might not even know. It's strange to feel somewhat guilty for enjoying life while you hear someone else died. He was a noted vegetarian and quite healthy, so this heart attack is a huge shock to everyone it seems.

Tellos, was one of the first properties that drew me away from the Top Cow books. What drew me in was the clean and simple style and motion in the panels. I also love animals and loved how the animal characters looked. I also enjoyed the tough female pirate Serra.

I've collected other covers featuring his artwork, like Randy Green's Dollz and the Lions, Tiger, and Bears cover he did. I am sad that I will never get a sketch at a show or anything signed, but it is even sadder that he will be so missed and that many will mourn this loss in the industry. My condolences go out to his family, friends, and fans.


Details are still sketchy but here are some places to find more info:
Here is a link to his blog

Here is the newsarama article

Here is the the Beat's article

Tofu Girls is totally cute and cutting edge

I'd just like to say that one of the best reasons to go to Comic-Con International San Diego is the great shopping.

In the tradition of my annual vacation, and in this case, my work and livelihood, I too went to Comic Con this year and although I spent much of my time in one spot, I did happen to travel around to see some interesting things, among them the one-legged babe at the Grindhouse booth. Last year, I stumbled across TokiDoki and although I'd never heard of it then, I loved the cute Japanese inspired graphics. Now Tokidoki is a cultural phenomenon. Rocking t-shirts, buttons, watches, pins, hats, skateboard decks, hotel rooms, vinyl toys, jewelry, shoes, iskin cases, and now tour buses, one can only say to their parents - " See, artist do make money!" Intensely popular and only offered in "seasons" the tokidoki creatures are featured on bags from LeSportsac, and although I got mine early, I now see women and girls alike from New York to LA sporting these cutesy bags. Tokidoki also offered limited edition makeup, including a Sephora exclusive, for the high-end professional Smashbox Cosmetics line. Needless to say, i scored big at the con by getting the x-small size t-shirts they couldn't move, and I went straight to the manufacturer's booth for the necklaces. I've ordered the bags off the LeSportsac website. The popularity of this line has grown and to prove it, I couldn't even see what was at the booth it was so crowded. Very sad for me =(

Also, another design company that blew up since last con is the Skelanimals. Now featured in the nationwide retail store of choice for goth/emo/ 80s kids Hot Topic, the skelanimals have been picked up by Loungefly and made into lots of items. From mints, stickers, patches, keychains, shirts, and more, I saw knew items at the booth. I picked up the convention edition red cat. I figure it will be great to keep in the closet until I'm 80 or something and then I can show people my "boney" cat.

On my limited travels around the floor, I discovered Tofu Girls!
These guys were new to the convention, but there T-shirts were so cute. They even had buttons, one free for signing-up for their newsletter! Also, they made cute fans, free with purchase. The people were really nice and took lots of photos for their website (you should go their and check it out!). I talked with them for quite a while. I got the green t-shirt featured below and the pink one with a faux mandarin collar(from the image at the top)! The t-shirts are pre-shrunk and really flattering to petite girls like me! They even provided a coupon, artfully done, on their website, how thoughtful! My suggestion: go to the website and pick up one of their t-shirts today. Tofu Girls will be blowing up soon and you can be early in the trend! Sign up for their newsletter and be informed about all the great products to come.

The Simple Life Goes to Camp

The Simple Life returned for its fifth and maybe possibly last season (you know how these things go) and I am a bit bummed.

One of my guiltiest pleasures, I love watching Paris & Nicole basically F with people. Sadly this season is a bit more scripted, than the show's origin. Perhaps its the behavior analyst in me that is intrigued by how the twosome can say awful things and shock and offend everyday salt-of-the-earth people, and then by the end of the show the offended forgive them and chirp back that they "love" Paris & Nicole. It's almost like the fact that these two highly recognizable girls can say anything to people and as long as they give an old man a hug and tell him he's sexy, or tell a woman they love her, the world is in their pocket. The people they encounter are probably so enthralled that Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie are talking to them, and telling them things good and bad. Being so close to a star, these people cannot remain mad or offended. Watching the show is like an interesting fish bowl of human behavior.

Now inseparably, these two can make you sick. In their "real" life drama, on E! and in People mag, what they do is far beyond funny. I don't hate them, but then again, I don't waste my time hating them. Nick Cage however is another story. Paris has already gone to jail, and Nicole is facing DUI & possible drug charges as well as almost endangering her new unborn baby, who miraculously hasn't aborted itself in that tiny frame of Nicole's. Lindsay (Lohan) and Britney are no better. Together they make the Twat Pack, except well, Nicole hasn't flashed her va-jay-jay yet. All in due time I'm sure.


But I'm getting off topic. Some are saying that this season is the worst yet. Simply because the show really really seemed fake due to putting Paris next to hunky camp co-counselor Hunter. A concocted lovestruck puppy Hunter makes, while Nicole earnestly tells him ways to win Paris, although in reality anyone can see her advice is totally off - on purpose. What I loved about the first and second season of the simple like is the realness. Seeing the girls without makeup, getting ready, doing their own hair, trying to heat up canned soup (in the can in the microwave), dancing while on the job, crashing cars, ditching work for manicures, cutting up uniforms, and basically saying obscenely funny things to people and laughing at their reactions. This final season, the girls had a professional makeup trailer and they never seemed to have any crucial off moments of realness seep through. Unlike the previous seasons which have lots of goodies on the DVDs, in which I own all the seasons, much to the dismay of my friends.



Rumors of their being a Kelly Osbourne )Ozzy's daughter) and Kim Kardashian or Kim Stewart (Rod Stewart's daughter) having a similar show have aired on the Simple Life's E website message boards. Still, whether that show is made or not, will not replace the amount of guilty pleasure I get from laughing at Nicole's antics. She seems to be the instigator, while Paris seems to hang back and sometimes join. Paris has her moments of causing trouble though.

I thought season 4 wasn't as good due to their feud, whether real or conspired, and the show filmed them with the same families at different times. It's disappointing to see the show have to change to keep up with ratings and the Hollywood machine, so far that it lost it's core point and grittiness. Nicole and Paris are at their best when knowingly causing mischief and not doing what they are supposed to be doing, and they seem to be most creative when they are bored with a task.

Goodbye Simple Life. Goodbye Nicole. Goodbye Paris. Goodbye Guilty Pleasure

One-Legged Babe

Back from Comic-Con International and just about the coolest and wildest thing I saw was a girl dressed up like Cherry Darling from the movie Grindhouse. And no she wasn't some crazy convention-goer in costume, she was actually hired by the studio for the booth. She really was an amputee! She also didn't mind the countless photos and crowds ogling her.

I was trying to walk through the crowd and eat my new cookie-dough flavored pop tart (convention hall food is too expensive and yucky!) and I noticed that all traffic had stopped in front of this one booth. I was like, what is going on? What's the hold up?

I finally got far enough into the crowd to see a girl perched up on a pole. Not really that strange, but this girl had a machine gun where her leg should be! I looked at different angles and found that she was really missing a limb. Fascinating. I loved Rose McGowan and knew I had to see the movie Grindhouse when it came out, in part, just for the machine gun leg. Here was a real live one-legged babe!

She graciously smiled as people snapped photos and gasped in amazement. She seemed to enjoy the attention. I'm sure it hasn't been so eays for her, but she was the star of the show for many fans, and I hope that made her a little happy. Someone remarked she's not that pretty. Someone else retorted, well how many one-legged models are there? I thought this was rather sad as someone who has worked events and promotions and have had people say terrible things to me while working. I talked to a neighboring exhibitor and he said she was a really sweet girl and her mom was even here. I asked if she was wearing a wig and he said, she's normally a blond. Who is this girl? I loved her attitude and grace, as it is not all that easy to stand for hours, especially with a gun on one appendage. She even let people climb on the stand with her and take photos. I wished I had gotten a photo with her. I did snap a few shots. Props to you, o one-legged babe of the convention!