A good, if somewhat uneventful meeting was had last night (Thurs. May 24^th). Rudi Gunther did not attend, with the excuse that he was promoting Dead//Life and Open Door down in bustling Vancouver. It was decided in his absence that he should be guilted into arranging the live drawing for next meeting.

Brad Glenn debuted his new script, New Recruits, and it was a bruiser, weighing in at 96 pages, or four full 24 page comics. Physical copies are available for anyone to critique with the request that all critiques be done by next meeting (June 8^th).

There was live modelling, with two brave members sitting for 15 minutes, and a quick sketch review.

Be sure to come on the eighth when Open Door regular Pip Mandin drops knowledge on how to start your own webcomic! See you there!

Meeting Notes - April 26th

Hey Comic Fans,

At the meeting on April 26th, Brad Glenn brought with him stories that students at John A. McDougall school had written as part of a novel writing club. The artists were asked to take one of the characters in the stories and do a quick sketch for the children, as a little surprise for them when the stories are printed up for them. It was an informal challenge, but the artists really stepped up to the challenge and sketched out some fantastic pieces for the children.

More under the cut...

FCBD 2012

Hey Comic Fans!

Free Comic Book Day is upon us, tomorrow at Happy Harbor Comics there will be festivities to be had! A big old comic sale, artists drawing for donations, cosplay, derby girls, and live music! FIRST 300 PEOPLE AT HAPPY HARBOR GET A FREE SUPER HERO CUPCAKE!!! :D

YEAH! Incentive to get here early!

A $10 dollar donation gets you a drawing from anyone at the table, feature artists include...
Smashed Head Studios Daniel Schneider
LAV2K Paul Lavallee
~Pickledance.devart Suzanne Withers
Smoonie.com Sylvia Moon
~32ft.devart Christopher Petersen
HEAT Comics Jeff Martin
KlySams86 | Behance Kyle Sams
Nat Jones.com Special Guest, Nat Jones
Plus 3 guest artists from GURU Digital Arts School

For more information, visit Happy Harbor Comics website. Fun times start at 10am to 5pm.

Come, hang out, buy some comics and get some comics for free! :D

Updates

Hey Comic Fans!

It's a busy month friends! There are so many things coming up, time to update you on all of them!

EDIT (Apr 20/12) I meant "Saturday" for the horse drawing session and not "Thurs".

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY

Yes that's right, it's upon us again. Free Comic Book Day is May 5th and Open Door friendlies are manning the artist table. This year, Happy Harbor Comics is hosting 6 premier artists for FCBD to sketch for patrons who bring donations to the food bank. The 6 artists this year are Artist In Residence Paul Lavalee, Sylvia Moon, Daniel Schneider, Jeff Martin, Kyle Sams, and Suzanne Withers. More details here.

There will be other events such as roller derby, refreshments, raffles, special guests, and more. Not to mention an awesome costume contest to help pump up a library of your request with $2012 worth of comics! Details are here.

CCEE

Not to mention Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo is fast approaching, hope your all saving your nickels and dimes for what is set to be a huge show! TNG reunion, first time guests, loads of artists and not to mention Open Door is hosting a booth with some of our local artists selling wares, sketches, and ready for more members. The artists attending are Ryan Miles Dika, Sylvia Moon, Jeff Martin, and Paul Lavallee.

Check out the official Calgary Expo website.

ANIMAL DRAWING SESSIONS

Feeling a bit inadequate in the animal drawing department? Needing a helpful boost that live sessions bring? Do you like drawing from life? Well big announcement for you all, Open Door is hosting Animal Drawing Sessions hosted by Daniel Schneider at Happy Harbor Comics v1 (Downtown). Here's what you need to know...

Saturday, May 19th, 2012 at Happy Harbor Comics downtown
Subject will be a Horse.
Starts at Noon
Admissions is $5 to take part in the drawing session, a food donation to see the horse for the non drawing types.

OPEN COMMUNITY

Open Door is an open comics community, if you live in the Edmonton and area come down to the next meeting this thursday and check out what we have to offer. Have questions about comics and how they are made? We can help answer those and more.

PRESS RELEASE: "Hat Trick"

Press Release!

Hat Trick, a new comic by Brad Glenn, is now on sale!

The new direction of the Utility Belt series, Hat Trick is a 12 issue series following three different stories. The Somnambulist follows a superhero police officer named Jack of Spades and his bizarre case trying to discover the identity of a killer who haunts his dreams. The Everyday Adventures of Captain Uranus is the story of a reluctant slacker who is chosen to revive a 1940's superhero, and his friends are loving every minute of it. Bravo Sierra is the third in the set, exploring the effects of super-powered people in the Iraq War. Hat Trick is scheduled to be a quarterly comic.

Head down to Happy Harbor Comics today and demand your issue now!

Edmonton Collectible Comic & Toy Show

Trevor, Paulina, Daniel, Jeff, Brad, Rudi, Samantha, Suzanne and James take in the con.

[Due to user error; i.e. I'm an idiot, this was not posted when it should have been.] Open Door Comics has had it's second official showing at the Edmonton Collectible Comic & Toy Show, and by all accounts, it was a fun, enjoyable success.

Brad Glenn, the force behind Utility Belt and the organiser of our presence there said;

"The Edmonton Collectible Toy and Comic show went very well this year. It seemed busier than previous years, and having six people doing commissions and three people selling comics worked well for us. Sales were varied, but we had some great conversations and made some interesting contacts."

While holding an audience at any convention is a task, it got easier as the day went on, according to Trevor Sieben;

"The show started off slow, but after noon, the sketches picked up. I managed to do 5 or 6 sketches, and visited with a bunch of old friends, and that makes it a great success."

Vanessa Beckmann had wild success with her sketching and beadwork;

"I had a lot of fun drawing for people and it was a great way to spend the day. Will definitely participate next year!"

 It's safe to say that Open Door will return next year to the ECC&TS, hope to see you there!

Chase Kantor's "Inside" & The Next Comic Creator Meeting

Hey Comic Fans!

Do you like film noir stories? Where the main character does all the narrating and story moving? Well, you're in luck. Chase Kantor, local writer and soon-to-be-doctor has started a new project called "Inside". Here's a quick synopsis of the story.

Crime is out of control. Prisons are overcrowded. The Department of Corrections makes a desperate play: dump all the male inmates into an abandoned city and wall it up. Problem solved.

But not for Frank Lee.

Kicked off the force and driving a delivery truck in Prisonville, USA, Frank stumbles on what he never thought he'd find on the inside: a five year-old girl. Alone. And half-dead. But... how'd she get in? Frank has to protect her. Has to get her out of the city. Or will he use her to find a way out for himself?

Oh, sounds interesting no? Looking for an artist to help with forming the comic. If you're interested you can contact Chase through his website at chasekantor.weebly.

NEXT COMIC CREATOR MEETING

You might remember that we helped Chase with his previous on-going project "Jack of Spades". Check out the character designs here.

Chase is doing a formal presentation for the Comic Creator meeting on March 29th. If you are interested in meeting him in person, learning more details about the story, come on down Thursday and Chase will answer any of your questions in regards to the project.

There will also be a table set-up for the Toy & Collectable show. For those attending and manning the Open Door tablet, this meeting is mandatory. Remember to bring your stuff!

Remember that March 29th is Life Drawing session hosted by Rudi Gunther.