Dale Keown | Ty Templeton's ART LAND!!

A few months ago, I swore I’d never mention Granito’s name in public again, mostly as a favor to his wife, who got caught up in the mess against her will, and got vilified by fandom when she didn’t deserve it. I was a part of that, and have personally apologized to her, because the Bunny is nothing if not willing to admit when he’s wrong. Also: Not mentioning Rob helped make him go away.

But today, there’s a good reason to mention the “He Who Is Nameless”, and it’s all for the HERO INITIATIVE.

At a convention a few months back, I was presented with a Granito Hockey Jersey as a gift by Kevin Boyd-convention organizer and all around good guy. The thought was that I could do what I wanted with it, perhaps as some sort of catharsis or something, as Kevin didn’t want it any more. My first idea was to put it in a toilet and let convention-goers pee on it for five bucks each and give the money to HERO, but that would have excluded women from participating in the fun, as I wasn’t going to fish it out of one toilet and transport it to another.

But a much better idea was offered up (I think it was my wife’s idea, or Ethan Van Sciver’s, and she’ll correct me if I’m wrong)…”why not let all the guests at this convention do sketches on the shirt, and have them, in true Granito fashion, sign EACH OTHER’S WORK?” and then auction it off on ebay.

Richard Pace. Writer and/or artist for Pitt Crew, New Warriors, and other stuff, sketches on the back and signs on the front. I signed his sketch.

So…the list of illustrations, and signings of work we didn’t do goes as follows…

Scarlet Witch by Khoi Pham (signed by Chris Sprouse)
Hulk by Ethan van Sciver (signed by Khoi Pham)
Wonder Woman by Agnes Garbowska (signed by Leonard Kirk)
Evil Ernie by Dale Keown (signed by Richard Pace)
Spider-Man by Ty Templeton (signed by Agnes Garbowska
Sandman by Richard Pace (signed by Ty Templeton)
Gorilla-Man by Leonard Kirk (signed by Ethan van Sciver)
Tom Strong by Chris Sprouse (signed by Dale Keown)
…and a hearty “Sit the @#?!!@ down!” by Ethan van Sciver (this one properly attributed!)

Ethan (Sit the #$@)(#@ down) Van Sciver does his part for charity.

The shirt was donated to HERO, and the ebay auction started up today. There’s no better souvenir of the whole meshuga than this shirt, and you get some pretty cool artists’ work to boot.

Even mine.

Remember, HERO is the organization that aids aging comic book creators in need. This group helps with medical expenses for the people that made our childhood dreams come true, and it’s one of my favorite charities, and should be yours.

Pull together and give back to the biz that gave so much to us, toss in a bid, and maybe win one of the more interesting collectibles you’ll ever find.

Ty the Guy OUT!

If you haven’t figured out the links yet…the auction is HERE.

Here now, your BONUS HERO INITIATIVE MOMENT

This hardcover collection (one of ten copies for sale of only five hundred printed) is ALSO on auction for HERO at ebay. This collection is probably the best set of covers ever done for Hero, and well worth having. Ignore that I’m here, you HAVE to see the Steve Epting cover, the John Byrne cover, and so many others…

Uncle Ty's Convention Sketches. Ready in just FIVE MINUTES

I just got back from Wizard World Toronto, and boy, are my arms not tired.

Not because I live in Toronto (and the flight back wouldn’t affect my shoulders, get it?) but because I spent the weekend, not sketching particularly much. No more than thirty sketches over a three day weekend, and at a big convention, I usually do fifty on the Saturday alone! At first I

One of my less embarrassing con sketches of Kara Zor-el.

thought it was me…did I have a piece of meatloaf hanging off my face? Did I wear my misanthropy on my sleeve too obviously, or was it the whiff of urine on my street clothes?

No, it was happening to almost everyone at Toronto Wizard Con, (other than Dale Keown and Richard Pace, who seemed to have a crowd around for a while on Saturday, and Adi Granov, who had a minor crowd on Friday). The attendance was thin, and mostly wrestling fans there to see the Iron Sheik and his pals. It’s always a bad sign when you start doing sketches for the other con guests or dealers because neither they, nor you, have anything else to do for the next ten minutes.

Too bad… The Wizard folks were nice to us. LOVELY volunteers, good people…they set up my bootcamp lesson/con panel and promoted it (surprisingly well attended, thank you), and were handing out the water and smiles. It was Wizard’s first big convention in Toronto, and I was rooting for them. Let’s hope there’s a few tweaks

Fans love Batgirl. And a lot of fans like her bum. I do what I'm requested...

and fixes before next year rolls around, and the thing rivals San Diego in the future.

The low point came on Saturday when some douche-twerp couldn’t resist the demon on the shoulder telling him to pull a fire alarm. It emptied out the convention center in the middle of Saturday afternoon—taking nearly an hour to sort out whether we were burning up in a fire, or doing the world’s biggest HOKEY POKEY. Not everyone came back when it was over. Hats off the perished souls of Wizard Con Toronto, 2010—you will be remembered.

Highlights include: being seated next to Gail Simone and Her Mysterious Husband, with Dave Ross to my left, and Kent (Planet of the Apes) Burles to my right. With things a tad slow, I got to hang with the legendary Gail Simone and Her Mysterious Husband, and got to see Dave Ross’s new pencils for an amazing Star Wars comic he’s working on, and laugh with the always

A very non-Adventures style Joker. Dig that crazy haircut.

charmingly French Canadian, Yanick Paquette, and drool over piles of just gorgeous AGENTS of ATLAS original art by my buddy Leonard Kirk. Len is one of those illustrators I’m openly jealous of, partly because he does THE best convention sketches on the planet

The rule with me at a con is, you get the sketch for free, but it’s done in five minutes. That way, everyone who wants one gets one, and I give back a little for the fans. You guys deserve it. But we artists rarely get to see our con sketches after we let you have ‘em. About one out of ten, I pull one off that I wish I could hold onto…it captured just the right gleam in Joker’s eye, or the right gesture as Robin jumps off a building. I sometimes ask if the fan could scan it for me and send me a copy when they get home, but after twenty years of doing this, I have less

Must...eat....brains...unless....there's....donuts....

than a dozen scans of con sketches to show you, and hardly the best of the best.

Zombie Homer is the only one from this year, as I used to think my BONGO contract forbids sketching the Simpsons, but Ken Wheaton (fellow toiler in Springfield) informs me, I can doodle inside published Simpsons books, just not regular sketch books and on blank pieces of paper… Ken had a PILE of copies of TREEHOUSE OF HORROR: DEAD MAN’S CHEST for people to buy, so I did more Simpsons doodles this weekend than anything else.

As promised, here’s my favorite con sketch of all time, and the recipient was lovely enough to send me one.

A once-in-a-lifetime-art team.

It was in Paris, and I was seated in between Bernie Wrightson, Neal Adams, and Scott Hampton. A group of BATMAN artists were touring through Belgium, France and Switzerland and enjoying all the lovely sauces we got with every meal, when some Euro-fan asked if Mr. Wrightson minded inking

Another Paris sketch from '92, featuring Tintin and the original appearance of ELSEWORLDS T-SHIRT BATMAN, seen last month!

the Batman portrait/sketch I had just done for him. Watching my meager sketch be inked by Bernie was mind blowing enough, but then watching Scott Hampton add those moody water colours, I came this close from stealing the image back for myself…I have the scan though, and I share it here with you guys…the word’s only Templeton/Wrightson/Hampton collaboration.

Neal Adams did not participate in the sketch, but I have something better from Neal…something I’ll show you guys in a future post. I have to keep the suspense going SOMEHOW.

Ty the Guy

Oh, and PS: This week, I’m promoting this new Simpsons collection, NOW ON SALE. I’ve got a fun pin-up inside, and the rest of the book is okay too, I suppose, if you like hysterical comic books.