Sketch Charlotte

Weekend laughter. Seth Rogen plays Rowlf and Andy Samberg is the Swedish Chef.
Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yRC4YU0bsw

Saturday Night Live is hit or miss. I still watch from time to time or DVR and scan for the rare gem. Here is one of those gems.
Congrats to Andy Samberg.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZOnKCaCwCU

Ok, we messed up. Our happy little group went to Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC (not too far from Charlotte, NC) to catch Scott McCloud give a lively interactive presentation on January 11. We all had a great time but never posted anything about it here on the site.
D'oh!
That to me was a crime and I aim to correct it! Scott McCloud and his family are in the midst of a tour of all fifty states. We were lucky enough to be the first audience to see his revised visual/lecture/show. Please check out Scott's website for more information and maybe you can catch the whole McCloud family on tour in your state. Besides supporting his newest book Making Comics you can meet Scott's family or at least hear daughter Sky speak. This really is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The Sketch Charlotte members did talk to each other through email so I thought I would compile some of the thoughts our members had on this inspiring night.

Herc: "It was a great talk I thought. Very engaging and hopefully inspirational to all of us."

Tom: "Indeed! I discovered some very cool comics on screen that I'll have to check out, too. It was totally inspiring, illuminating and fun. SketchCharlotte needs to keep an eye out for such awesome gathering events!"

Tess: "Awesome lecture. Full of useful insights. And how cool to have your family take a year off and travel around the country on a book tour! I would love to see them do a joint World Tour with the Trachtenberg Family Slideshow...bet the kids would get along great."

Tom: "McCloud and family struck me as the Patridge Family of Comics. They need a big ol' colorful bus, with a Zot logo on the side. : ) "

For more information check out this link http://www.scottmccloud.com/makingcomics/tour.html

Tonight's meeting will be at the South Park Mall in the food court if anyone would like to join. Members of Sketch Charlotte will be sketching random folks and objects. Should be a fun night and new members/guests are always welcome.

Hickory Con Fun
by Matt Starnes

Last Saturday Sketch Charlotte members Tom, John, Herc, Diego, and myself made the 45 minute drive to Hickory, NC. Never heard of Hickory? Well, it is most known for furniture. Yep, furniture. They make and sell a ton of furniture. We decided to add comic books to Hickory's fame.
The convention organizers Tim and Eddie were nice and had Sketch Charlotte set up in a nice spot near the middle of the con. We were told the convention would draw about 500 to 600 people. The consensus among the artists, writers, and retailers I spoke with estimated less than those numbers but we had a great time.
Hickory Con was our first con as a group so it was practice run. Things we need for next time are: a banner, business cards, and a group bio sheet so people can find out more about us.
Here goes a shout out to 803 studios and artist Buddy Price.
About half the floor was devoted to Naruto Card gaming. The rest of the con was heavy on golden and silver age comics. There were a few creators and studios and even some newer comics being sold but not a lot.
I feel the convention was a good bonding experience for us. A special thanks to Herc for driving the group to the con. We had a blast joking in the car.
I hope we can go to many more cons in the future.
Here's a link to Time Tunnel Comics http://www.timetunnelcomics.com/ and the Hickory Con http://www.hickorycon.com/. It looks like there will be another Hickory Con Saturday, March 31.

Upcoming conventions: Greenville, SC in October and Charlotte, NC in November.
Do you know of any more upcoming conventions? Let us know.

Heroes on NBC...a good first episode
by Matt Starnes
This is a bit late but wanted to share a few brief impressions on the first episode of Heroes. Overall I thought it was a good first episode. It has a fairly large cast much like Lost and there is a mystery as well. Folks from around the world suddenly think they have super powers and it looks like they do. Hiro in Tokyo is probably my favorite. He can teleport and control space & time. Hiro is also the comic relief on the show.
The reason this show will probably work is it's basically the X-Men or so it seems. The characters seem to be the next step in evolution.
What I loved and probably most comic book art fans will love is the artist who paints the future on canvas much to his horror. Fans of Tim Sale will enjoy seeing his work in this episode.
Hats off to NBC for airing the hour long show with limited commercial interuptions. Let's face it, the network needs a hit and is trying everything to develop one. With comic book adaptations being popular I believe they may have a shot at nuturing a show that can last five years.
Much like Lost the show has unanswered questions that will be replaced by others as they are answered.
I'll give Heroes a couple more episodes and do another review.
Check out the "graphic" novel by comic book artist Michael Turner @ http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/novels/ and look for more online comics by today's popular artists in the coming weeks.

Please feel free to post comments or ask questions. You do not have to be a member of Sketch Charlotte to post.

Artist Diego Jourdan and Writer Matt Starnes were apprehended by The Empire at the Hickory Con 2006.
Tom, John, Herc, Diego, and Matt all attended the Hickory Con on Saturday September 23. We all had a great time. Hopefully we will have some more pictures posted in the next day or two.
Special thanks to Tim and Eddie for hosting the show and giving us a table in a good location.
John DaCosta did a great Star Wars Biker Scout sketch for...well a Star Wars Biker Scout.
Shout out to the 501 st Troup of Imperial dudes and dudettes. These folks volunteer and help with charities.

Here's a pic of me (Matt Starnes) with Darth Vader at the Hickory Con.

Written by Andrew Robinson & Joe Pruett
Illustrated & colored by Andrew Robinson
Lettered by Marshall Dillon
Image Comics/Desperado

First off a disclaimer; I loved Andrew Robinson's Starman covers. I admit a bias when it comes to folks who worked on DC's Starman title.
Alright Dusty Star is hard to categorize and that's what I like about the title. Read the first few pages and you think it's a stylized western. Then you see a motorcycle. What the? I guess if you had to categorize Dusty Star it's a western, sci-fi, noir, and military comic.
Andrew Robinson's design sense is well defined. He's not afraid to experiment and the reader is richly rewarded for the risk. The artist's color pallet is much wider than most four color books. Dusty Star starts with a muted lavender color that is quite odd but it works. What I really enjoyed was the black and white rain page. The page is so important because the next page resumes color for a while.
The pencils are really wild. Once you think you have a handle on the style then Andrew will switch up the panels and angles. Even the characters will change slightly depending on action and story mode.
The writing is classic western mixed with noir sci-fi. I'm intrigued by the writing and can't wait to see the story evolve and become a bit meatier.
Overall I would highly recommend Dusty Star if you are looking for an interesting story telling experience.

Looking for more on Dusty Star & Andrew Robinson? http://www.comicbookdb.com/index.php

Little Miss Sunshine is a movie you must see. The movie has laughs, drama, but most of all it has heart. The husband and wife directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris along with writer Michael Arndt weave a seamless tale of losing but winning at the same time.
The top notch cast of Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, and the brilliant newcomer Abigail Breslin make acting look easy.
I'm not one to give everything away in a movie review so I'll provide a brief overview.
Little Miss Sunshine is a road movie starring lovable losers trapped in an ailing VW bus traveling 900 miles in two days so Olive Hoover (Abigail Breslin) can compete in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. The family has many misadventures on what seems like a simple task. This film really exemplifies the feeling that it's not the destination that's so important but rather the journey.
Paul Dano's character Dwayne the odd teenager evolves before our eyes. Alan Arkin's twisted grandpa character manages to bring laughter, disgust, sorrow, and love in a short time. Greg Kinnear as the father who tries desperately to provide for his family as a want-to-be motivational speaker shows us winning is not always winning. Toni Collette is the hard working mom trying to keep tabs on everyone including Steve Carell as the tortured brother. Abigail Breslin's Olive is the "glue" that holds the family together although no one realizes it.
This movie takes a close look at what defines family these days and what it's like to win and lose in American society.
The thing that makes this film work is that it's real. It's not a perfect much like the family isn't perfect. The other remarkable feat is the movie shows that sometimes losing at some of life's various challenges doesn't mean you're not a winner.
Go see Little Miss Sunshine. You will laugh out loud and leave the movie theater thinking. I even laughed days afterwards thinking about things off camera.

Check out: http://www2.foxsearchlight.com/littlemisssunshine/

Hey guys, sorry I didn't make the meeting last night.
Our rescue dog Peter Parker has been acting up lately.
Anyway, The Hickory Comic Book Convention is Saturday September 23. I thought maybe we could all chip & rent a table or more. Anyone interested?
The show is from 10-5 that day.

Now this is cool!
This is a great idea.
I can't wait for tonight's get together.
I'm starting to generate more story ideas as a result of our meetings.
Thank you Sketch Charlotte!