Aspen Comics

COMIC BASTARDS: Advanced Review: Broken Pieces #2

2012-03-01T13:56:00.000-08:00

COMIC BASTARDS: Advanced Review: Broken Pieces #2:
Usually when a story relies on three different time lines it shows a major weakness in what is the “present” timeline of the story.
The pr...

Aspen Action 2/17/12

2012-02-17T12:42:00.000-08:00

Help choose our IDOLIZED contest winner and vote for your favorite:
http://www.facebook.com/IdolizedComic

Soulfire #7 Preview from Broken Frontier:
http://www.brokenfrontier.com/headlines/p/detail/preview-soulfire-v3-7

Broken Pieces #2 Preview from Comic Book Therapy:
http://www.comicbooktherapy.com/sneak-peek-broken-pieces-issue-2-by-aspen-books/

May Solicitations from Comic Bastards:
http://www.comicbastards.com/2012/02/new-releases-aspen-comics-may-2012.html

Broken Pieces Trailer from a Comic Book Blog:
http://acomicbookblog.com/2012/02/broken-pieces-trailer-extended-preview/

Everyday should be like Valentine's Day!

2012-02-16T16:53:00.000-08:00

I'm going to suck your face-off...like Nicholas Cage

Let's keep the love going this week with Aspen and Chance's first kiss! Hopefully you got some good liquor cherry candy...like we are currently enjoying in the office.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T08:19:00.000-08:00

SNEAK PEEK: Soulfire V3 #7

2012-02-13T13:41:00.000-08:00

"I burn ALL the things!!!!"

Soulfire Volume 3 #7 will be out in stores this Wednesday the 15th, we wanted to give you a little taste of what Malikai will be dealing with! Jason Fabok did an amazing job on pencils, JT Krul wrote and Jason Starr colored. Be sure to pick up your copy!

Aspen Action 2/10/12

2012-02-10T12:55:00.000-08:00

Enter the Idolized contest, last day to enter is Monday the 13th:
http://www.facebook.com/IdolizedComic

Enter the "I Love Aspen" sweepstakes, last day to enter is also Monday the 13th:
http://www.mycomicnetwork.com/v2/i-love-aspen-valentine-sweepstakes/

Preview Soulfire Volume 3 #7 from Major Spoilers:
http://www.majorspoilers.com/sneak-peek-soulfire-7

Interview with Vince Hernandez about Fathom: Kiani from Previews World:
http://www.previewsworld.com/Home/1/1/71/977?articleID=117822

Aspen is on the Nook! Read about it on CBR:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=36870

An extended preview of Broken Pieces #2 on Comic Vine:
http://www.comicvine.com/news/exclusive-broken-pieces-2-extended-preview/144241/

Lady Mechanika is going to be reprinted, read about it at Bad Haven:
http://www.badhaven.com/comics/comic-news/lady-mechanika-set-to-return-to-print-on-sold-out-issues-easy-to-see-why-its-awesome/

Idolized interview with David Schwartz and Micah Gunnell from ComicBloc:
http://www.comicbloc.com/read/2012/02/comics-get-idolized/

AXE Anarachy

2012-02-08T15:43:00.000-08:00

Axe teamed up with Aspen Comics to create an interactive graphic novel and they are already on Chapter 3!!! How time flies! Be sure to get in on the action here:
http://www.axeanarchy.axe.us/novel
And also check out the behind the scenes videos to check out interviews at our studio!

Grandma's Fear Factor

2012-02-07T16:42:00.000-08:00

Yum!

The rules were simple: consume 6 cups of Rice Krispies, 1 bag of large marshmallows, and 3 pats of butter the fastest. You could use any other product from the kitchen to aid your speediness.
The contestants were Mark Roslan (5 time previous loser), Erick Raymundo (non enthusiastic participant), and intern Alex (reluctant but willing body).

Snap, Crackle, and Pop!

Mark stuffing his face early...Erick is scared

Chubby Bunny

Each contestant with a different method, including Mark's "I'm a horse"

Erick helps Mark with the funnel method...it didn't help.

Alex decide to put Tang in his concoction to make it better...it was a bad choice.

Alex making it fancy with his goblet o' water.

Towards the end Mark gets desperate and microwaves everything together.

All Mark needs to do is chug this warm...mess.

The final two...Erick wussed out and these two are hurting.


Mark...the 6th time LOSER!!! Congrats Intern Alex!!!!!

After the contest Alex went to the restroom to throw up, but he WON!!! So until the next challenge when Mark can lose again and make it 0-7!

We took some video also.
PART ONE:

PART TWO:

PART THREE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h68Ig8WPTpc

Aspen Action 2/3/12

2012-02-03T14:17:00.000-08:00

Enter the Idolized contest:
http://www.facebook.com/IDOLIZEDComic

Vince Hernandez talks Kiani for Broken Frontier:
http://www.brokenfrontier.com/lowdown/p/detail/kiani-returns-from-watery-death-in-new-fathom-spinoff

Enter the "I Love Aspen" Sweepstakes:
http://www.mycomicnetwork.com/v2/i-love-aspen-valentine-sweepstakes/

Haunted City Trailer from MTV Geek:
http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/731197/haunted-city-trailer.jhtml

Haunted City #2 Review from Team Hellions:
http://teamhellions.com/2012/01/23/haunted-city-2-advanced-review-from-aspen-comics/

Fathom V4 #4 Review from Omnicomic:
http://www.omnicomic.com/2012/01/review-fathom-vol-4-4.html

Frodo celebrates CJ's Birthday!

2012-02-02T16:07:00.000-08:00


I had a gift...but I'm not ready to part with it..it's MINE!

If you want to help CJ celebrate her birthday go here: http://aspenmltinc.blogspot.com/2012/01/stopping-sopapipa-day.html
No one has drawn her any sparkly ponies yet and that's sad :(

MONDAY! MONDAY! MONDAY!

2012-02-01T15:48:00.000-08:00

Get ready for the epic battle of wits and stomachs between Mark Roslan, Erick Raymundo, and intern Alex in:

MAKIN' RICE KRISPIE TREATS IN MY TUMMY FIGHT!

To take place Monday the 6th each contestant will need to consume 6 cups of Rice Krispies:

and an ENTIRE bag of large marshmallows:

Milk, Bud Light, or water will be provided to help it all go down. The person who finishes the fastest wins! And what do they win you ask? Well moderator Peter Steigerwald says they win bragging rights which is to say they win suck all. Other people, in this same office, feel that this contest is entirely too easy and should at least include the 1/4 stick of butter...AT LEAST. However, since none of these people are involved in consuming of said food, we have no say.

Pictures and the winner announced Monday!

SNEAK PEEK: Fathom V4 #4

2012-01-31T13:34:00.000-08:00

Child please!!!

Fathom V4 #4 is in stores tomorrow and it kicks ass! Here is a little taste of Alex Konat's awesome pencils. Scott Lobdell writes and Beth Sotelo did the colors. Make sure to grab your copy tomorrow!

SNEAK PEEK: Haunted City #2

2012-01-30T14:38:00.000-08:00

I like dirty subways

Haunted City #2 comes out this Wednesday the 1st and we are really excited for the fans to read it! Chap Taylor and Peter Johnson were responsible for the story, Michael Ryan did the pencils and Kelsey Shannon colored the book. Make sure to get your copy!

ASPEN ACTION 1/27/12

2012-01-27T13:32:00.000-08:00

IDOLIZED article and interview with David Schwartz from Comic Buzz:
http://comicbuzz.com/david-schwartz-talks-idolized

Fathom Blue Descent #4 Review from Pop Culture Network:
http://popculturenetwork.com/article.php?story=20120124075839354

Axe Anarchy article from Ad Sector:
http://adsector.net/2012/01/25/axe-anarchy-the-graphic-novel/

Fathom V4 #4 Preview from Team Hellions:
http://teamhellions.com/2012/01/26/fathom-4-preview-coming-february-1st-from-aspen-comics/

Haunted City #2 Preview from Comicosity:
http://www.comicosity.com/preview-haunted-city-2/

Fathom V4 #4 Review from Omnicomic:
http://www.omnicomic.com/2012/01/review-fathom-vol-4-4.html

SNEAK PEEK: Fathom: Blue Descent #4

2012-01-24T13:37:00.000-08:00


look into my eyes..

Fathom: Blue Descent #4 is in stores tomorrow! Here's a sneak peek of the final chapter of Aspen's origin! Written by David Schwartz, pencils by Alex Sanchez and colored by Peter Steigerwald.

New IDOLIZED Contest!!

2012-01-23T17:20:00.000-08:00

This is your chance to be drawn into a comic book!! Learn all about it and read an interview with David Schwartz here: Comic Bastards
Read the official rules here: Rules!
And then head on over to Facebook to enter!! Facebook/Idolized

Good luck! We can't wait to see what you come up with!!

ASPEN ACTION

2012-01-20T12:16:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the NEW Aspen Action!! Every Friday I'll post some links that will get you caught up on the media for the week! Hope you enjoy it!

Charismagic #4 Review from Comic Bastards:
http://comicbastards.blogspot.com/2012/01/review-charismagic-4.html

April Solicitations from Major Spoilers:
http://www.majorspoilers.com/solicitations-aspen-comics-for-april-2012

Dead Man's Run #1 Top Pick from MTV Geek:
http://geek-news.mtv.com/2012/01/17/dead-mans-run-steed-and-mrs-peel-and-memorial-new-comics-for-11812/

Dead Man's Run #1 Review from CBR:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=user_review&id=4363

Haunted City #2 Preview from Comicosity:
http://www.comicosity.com/preview-haunted-city-2/

AXE Anarchy blog from Randy Matheson:
http://randymatheson.com/axe-promotes-new-fragrance-with-fan-influenced-graphic-novel/

MORE CJ... the Day of CJ is not done!

2012-01-18T21:36:00.000-08:00

Introducing lol-bastian

Vince was on a long phone call so CJ came to visit myself and Mark


Actually she came to scare Mark!

What's under the jacket? Superpowers!

STOPPING SOPAPIPA DAY!

2012-01-18T13:38:00.000-08:00

Wikipedia's blacked out. So I, Peter Steigerwald, will unblock all my CJ PICTURES!!!

ALL CJ Pictures. All day. (Maybe a few others Non-CJ pictures mixed in)

CJ Wilson, hard at work making sure our retailers and customer's are happy and the lines of communication are open.

Bastian supervises her...

And get's a hearty Handshake for the effort!

She's also freakishly fast!

If you LIKE all this CJ-ity. Reward her... she LOVES sparkly ponies! So we're announcing the aptly named CJ Sparkly Pony Contest! The best Sparkly Pony wins a prize! A signed book by CJ! If this post gets more than 1000 unique hits, I'll publish the winning sparkly pony in one of our books!

Post your entries as comments to this thread.

Even if Erick remains incredulous!

Peter Steigerwald!

AXE visit Scott Lobdell and Joe Benitez IN STUDIO!

2012-01-17T15:52:00.000-08:00

Joe Benitez draws Axe girl Lauren into a comic girl!

AXE reps Dan and Lauren flew all the way from New York this morning to visit Aspen at our studios and talk about Anarchy. Joe Benitez and Scott Lobdell came in to be interviewed and photographed. Check out the youtube channel here: www.youtube.com/axe

Dan, Lauren, and a sleepy Scott Lobdell

Charismagic Covers

2012-01-12T15:14:00.000-08:00

Khary Randolph & Emilio Lopez

Charismagic #4 will be in stores next week! We have 5 outstanding covers that we wanted to share with our fans!

Siya Oum


Micah Gunnell & Emilio Lopez

Nicola Hwang

Emilio Lopez

We are so grateful to have all this talent on one book! In stores January 18th! Which one's your favorite?

SNEAK PEEK: Charismagic #4

2012-01-11T13:32:00.000-08:00

that's one big kitty

Here is a little taste of Khary Randolph's pencils and Emilo Lopez's colors in upcoming Charismagic #4 in stores January 18th! This book looks amazing and we can't wait for our fans to read it...just one week away!

Scott Lobdell's Puppy!

2012-01-10T12:39:00.000-08:00

Attack!

Scott Lobdell walked through our doors today with a 7 week old puppy!! Needless to say the whole office had to stop and play with him. Scott is still deciding what to name him though. Right now it's either between Baxter and Phoenix but Peter says he looks like Falcor from Neverending Story so we want Scott to call him FALCOR!!!! Do it!

NEW INTERN: Alex

2012-01-09T14:28:00.000-08:00

Don't be sad...we mostly play nice, mostly.

Aspen Comics got a new intern today! Alex gets to stay with us for a little over a month and to get to know him better we asked him 5 crucial questions:

Aspen: What are your favorite comics?
Alex: Preacher, Sleeper, Powers, Blankets, Alias, and True Story, Swear to God

Aspen: Favorite candy?
Alex: Frosted animal crackers
Aspen: Not even sure that's a candy as we've never heard of it...but awesome.

Aspen: Favorite Disney animated feature? (not including Pixar)
Alex: ...fumbling on the computer looking for a list of Disney movies...Mulan

Aspen: If you could choose from the following butlers to serve you who would it be? Alfred, Mr. Belvedere, a trained monkey, Geoffrey from Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Lurch from Addams Family, Riff Raff from Rocky Horror Picture Show, or Smithers?
Alex: Geoffrey

Aspen: And finally...can you draw a sparkly pony?
Alex: Yeah sure
Aspen: Great, have it on my desk by the end of the week.

Yay! We look forward to slave driving...I mean working with him.

SNEAK PEEK - Dead Man's Run #1

2012-01-06T13:12:00.000-08:00

damn! that's scary!

We are crazy excited about the Dead Man's Run series! Greg Pak, Tony Parker, and David Curiel are doing an awesome job. #0 is on sale, 50% off, right now: http://www.aspenstore.com/Dead-Man-s-Run-Greg-Pak-Tony-Parker-Gale-Ann-Hurd-s/214.htm
Read it just in time to be ready for #1 to hit the stores January 18th!

AXE

2012-01-05T12:58:00.001-08:00

More info to come!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2011-12-30T14:13:00.000-08:00

Hope there is magic for you this weekend!

With Soulfire V3 #6 coming out Jan 18th we were reminiscing about Volume 1 and thought that this would be an appropriate image to ring in the New Year. We appreciate you being our fans and look forward to sharing a remarkable year with some amazing talent! Have a safe weekend!

Arizona Comic Con Jan 6-8, 2012

2011-12-29T13:02:00.000-08:00

Aspen Comics will be representing in the fine state of Arizona next week. Aspen creators Joe Benitez (Lady Mechanika), Frank Mastromauro (Shrugged), Tony Parker (Dead Man’s Run) and Mark Roslan (Broken Pieces) will be at the Aspen Comics Booths 217 & 316 all weekend long.

We will have 500 copies of a limited Dead Man's Run #1 Amazing Arizona Comic Con Exclusive Variant by Parker and colorist Peter Steigerwald.

For more info: http://amazingarizonacomiccon.com/

We hope to see you there!

Greg Pak Mints!

2011-12-28T16:05:00.000-08:00


FANCY FRANGO FUN!

Greg Pak, writer of Dead Man's Run, sent the Aspen Studios some delicious mints for the Holiday season. They are so delicious whenever we print we eat one. It's going to be like Pavlov's dog when we run out...we'll hit 'print' and taste the mint in our mouths...yum. Thank you Greg!

Sneak Peek - Fathom V4 #3!

2011-12-27T14:58:00.000-08:00

Fathom #3 will be in stores tomorrow featuring the writing styles of Mr. Scott Lobdell, pencils by Alex Konat, and coloring from the talented Beth Sotelo. Here is a little peek of some awesome Aspen Matthews!

HUGE ASPEN SALE on the AspenStore! Don't Miss Out!

2011-12-23T14:17:00.000-08:00

Lady Mechanika #3

2011-12-21T12:44:00.000-08:00

must find mistletoe...

We have an exclusive Holiday cover on sale over at the Aspen Store: http://www.aspenstore.com/Lady-Mechanika-3-Cover-E-Aspenstore-Exclusive-p/lady-mechanika-3-e.htm
We also have the book available signed by writer, penciler, and inker Joe Benitez and colorist Peter Steigerwald! Pick yours up today and make your Holidays that much more Mechaniky! You'll receive 10% off at checkout with code HOLIDAY11.

Sneak Peek: Lady Mechanika #3

2011-12-20T15:34:00.000-08:00


I've got pink hair and a tiny hat...want to fight about it?

Lady Mechanika #3 will be available in stores tomorrow, make sure to grab your copy! Here is a tiny peek at one of our favorite drawings in the book. It came out SO awesome!

Holiday Cards!

2011-12-19T13:29:00.000-08:00

We've been filling up Vince Hernandez's door full of the awesome holiday cards we receive. Pretty soon he won't be able to see who's knocking! We have some kick ass fans!

Chris Rupp visits the studio the same day Fathom #3 is delivered!

2011-12-16T14:20:00.000-08:00

"Oh my!"

Chris Rupp came in to Aspen today and was fortunate enough to be here when we opened up Fathom #3 from the printers! As you can see he was totally shocked by the ending, as will you be!! In stores December 28th!

Almost ready for Santa

2011-12-15T13:51:00.000-08:00


dreaming of sugar plum fairies

Someone had discarded perfectly good Christmas tree branches in our office building! We seized the moment to not be wasteful and added said branches to our already decorated comic rack. The office is starting to smell delicious. If only Peter Steigerwald would come to work dressed as Santa...that would be a Christmas miracle!

New Assistant Editor...for the day

2011-12-14T15:50:00.000-08:00


Such work reading all these comics

Oh my! Lady Mechanika #3 in my favorite color PURPLE!

Excellent read...will read again after nap.

Bastian stepped in as Assistant Editor today to help Editor In Chief Vince Hernandez. He was very excited to share in the Aspen goodness that is Lady Mechanika! #3 will be in stores December 21st!

New Statues!

2011-12-13T12:36:00.000-08:00

mmm...statues

The new Fathom statues arrived in the office! Designed by Michael Turner and sculpted by Dean Mason, there may be some wrestling to see whose office they end up in...we'll keep you posted to the winner! They will be available in stores March 2012!

Get some more info from our friends at The Daily Blam: http://www.dailyblam.com/news/2011/12/12/aspen-comics-debuts-new-fathom-aspen-matthews-statues

Colorist JOHN STARR is a star!

2011-12-12T13:47:00.000-08:00

Colorist JOHN STARR is a star! He's being filmed while coloring an upcoming project! John has worked with Aspen Comics for many years now on such projects as Executive Assistant: Iris vol.2, FATHOM vol.3, Soulfire vol.2, and the upcoming Fathom: Kiani vol.2!!

Haunted City #1 has received rave reviews! Here are a few..

2011-10-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

http://www.dailyblam.com/news/2011/10/12/sarahs-aspen-comics-review-haunted-city-1
http://justaboutcomics.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/review-haunted-city-1/
http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2011/10/12/comic-review-haunted-city-1/
http://www.mycomicnetwork.com/v2/2011/10/haunted-city-1-can-you-survive-these-haunted-streets/

3D Aspen Matthews piece by Siya Oum!!

2011-09-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

POP! reviews all 4 of our September 21st releases:

2011-09-23T16:57:00.000-07:00

http://panelsonpages.com/

What's up in the studio today?

2011-08-28T02:58:00.000-07:00

We had some surprise visitors today!

Vince spied our guests peeking through the door and

invited them in for a quick tour and some free comics!

What's up in the studio today?

2011-08-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

Brooke intently searches through our new batch of DC Comics for some new favorites!

Which ones will she choose?

Mark attempts to focus on his work and remain uninvolved.

Unfortunately for him... I don't care and took his picture anyhow.

Comic Monster talks Haunted City with Chap Taylor and Peter Johnson

2011-08-25T19:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.comicmonsters.com/features-1200-Haunted_City_interview_with_Taylor_and_Johnson.html

What's up in the studio today?

2011-08-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

Steph and Old Man Joe demonstrate their inner selves!

Chaz helps Steph fix her email. Joe draws Lady Mechanika #3 pages...

...and they are all very patriotic and height oriented.

What's up in the studio today?

2011-08-06T17:19:00.000-07:00

Frank comes in after playing football to make sure Mark is working. (and he was)

What's up in the studio today?

2011-08-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

Lori's working on pages.

Vince is receiving new pages from FedEx.

And Mark and Steph are going over promotions and images for all our upcoming projects!

Aspen Comics Studio Tour

2011-08-02T13:05:00.000-07:00

Aspen Comics Studio Tour: "Aspen Comics Frank Mastromauro and Peter Steigerwald, along with artist Joe Benitez discuss the creation of Aspen Comics, its future and the late Michael Turner."

Get More: Geek: Studio Tours, MTV Games

Have a listen, The Orbiting Pod chose Lady Mechanika #2 this week!

2011-07-26T13:56:00.000-07:00

Lady Mechanika #2 is pick of the week!

Diamond stops by the Aspen Booth at SDCC 2011

2011-07-26T13:11:00.000-07:00

http://www.previewsworld.com/public/default.asp?t=1&m=1&c=6&s=462&ai=111235&ssd%20%3Chttp://www.previewsworld.com/public/default.asp?t=1&m=1&c=6&s=462&ai=111235&ssd%3E%20=

...and previews Haunted City #0!

Lady Mechanika #2 in stores July 13th!

2011-06-30T09:45:00.001-07:00

Late night work at the studio requires music that is all rise!

Well, well, well, look what came in the mail today!

2011-06-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

Executive Assistant Iris TPB will be in stores June 22nd!!

Thanks Comics Bulletin- great review of the Fathom Primer!

2011-06-09T18:21:00.000-07:00

http://www.comicsbulletin.com/reviews/130721034255885.htm

Lady Mechanika #2 on it's way!

2011-05-15T01:57:00.000-07:00

Part 2

Lady Mechanika #2 on it's way!

2011-05-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

Video Part 1

Pencils: Joe Benitez, Digital Inks: Mark Roslan, Colors: Peter Steigerwald

A teeny peek at the process of Lady Mechanika #2

2011-05-11T23:38:00.000-07:00

Pencils by Joe Benitez, Digital inks by Mark Roslan, Colors by Peter Steigerwald

Mark Roslan on the grind

2011-05-10T16:19:00.000-07:00

Didn't catch him doing Broken Pieces but stay tuned! We'll be showing a new cover very soon! -Steph

Happy Cinco de Mayo from Aspen!!

2011-05-05T14:25:00.000-07:00

Love this poster, it's from a past convention and now hangs proudly on the wall at our office.

Took a quick video of Talent sketching...

2011-04-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

I took the liberty of videoing Talent drawing a piece for charity! If you read the blog yesterday then you know Talent is in the spirit of giving- I'm waiting for my drawing now lol.
-Steph

Surprise visit at Aspen from Talent Caldwell!!

2011-04-28T15:57:00.000-07:00

Talent came to visit us from the far-away East Coast and he brought an original piece of Charismagic art for Vince, what a stand up guy!! This officially makes Talent the first person to gift Vince with art from something he's written.
STREET CRED

BROKEN PIECES TRAILER

2011-04-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

Here is a trailer for Mark Roslan's newest Aspen property, BROKEN PIECES. Enjoy!

Over Peter's shoulder...Lady M

2011-04-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

Wanted to show you guys some Peter action so I snapped a pic over his shoulder. He threw me across the room afterward but lucky for you my camera survived!!
(no one was hurt)

I love this Lady Mechanika costume!!

2011-04-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

Lady Mechanika Cosplay

Found this pic from the LBC Expo over the weekend, yay for Lady Mechanika!

FCBD at The Comic Bug

2011-04-25T14:53:00.000-07:00

This year Aspen will be at The Comic Bug in Manhattan Beach, CA on FCBD. Aspen guests will include from 12-3pm:
David Wohl
David Schwartz
Frank Mastromauro
Peter Steigerwald
Vince Hernandez
Mark Roslan

Joe Benitez will be there from 3-5pm.

We'd love to see you there!!

Lori hard at work!

2011-04-22T14:50:00.000-07:00

Working on the Aspen Swimsuit Splash Edition....oooooooo!!! Guess which lovely lady she's drawing!?

Long Beach Comic Expo this Saturday!

2011-04-21T14:28:00.000-07:00

We've got quite a few guests at the Long Beach Expo, check out this link to see the full list:
LBCC Guest List
Aspen will be at Booth #201 from 10am to 6pm with a panel at 1pm.

SNEAK PEEK!

2011-04-15T16:17:00.000-07:00

So I came across this page in the office... and wanted to show you guys! shhh!

Cover Process - Siya Oum

2011-04-13T21:34:00.000-07:00

V here! The always super Siya Oum was kind enough to share her cover process for her cover to Charismagic #4. Below are the steps involved in creating an awesome cover image!

Before starting any cover, Siya and I discuss the elements of what will be on the cover and what we're looking to achieve in terms of cover theme. For this #4 cover, we knew there would be two other "Lady" covers for issue #4 in addition to the direct cover by Khary, so we decided on Hank's girlfriend, Alle Star, as our character for this cover. After discussing setting, Siya produced a series of rough sketch layouts--this one being the one we all liked the best.

After the layout stage, it's time to get in there for the heavy work--this is where the artist's drawing talents shine through as Siya draws in the more finite lines for the image: figures, background, etc. I've worked with Siya enough to know this is where I sit back and let her do her thing.

Once the lines are set, for a complete pencil-to-color illustrator like Siya, it's time to go in and establish the color palette and tones for the piece. Again, her talents take over as she sets the mood and feel for the entire piece at this stage. As you can see, the minor details like color fx, outfit accessories, and setting textures aren't added in yet.

Once Siya establishes her colors, she goes in and fully renders the figure and background elements. At this point we'll discuss the minor details listed above and also discuss any changes to the piece. SFX like her jewelry and outfit are added in. We also felt the sky should be even more green to reflect the setting (to be revealed in issue #4):

Now the process comes together and we have the finished cover art with sfx, accessories, and revised background added. Now it's sent to production where Mark will work his own magic and decide cover dressing colors and themes for the logo and other cover type:

And abracadabra! We have the finished cover for Charismagic #4!

Remembering SOULFIRE Vol. 1

2011-04-12T15:35:00.000-07:00

Going through some files I came across this layout that Michael Turner drew for issue #8 of Soulfire. As you can probably see, Joe Benitez stayed true to Turner's original intent...

Putting together a preview for SOULFIRE #1 while.....

2011-04-07T14:23:00.000-07:00

noggin bops dances on my desk. I for some odd reason love this little robot. Weird?
-Steph

Hot off the presssssss

2011-04-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

WonderCon 2011!

2011-03-30T17:39:00.000-07:00

V here! The gang is getting all the last-minute plans taken care of before we head to the Bay Area in less than 24 hours for WonderCon 2011! If you're planning on attending the show, please stop by the Aspen Comics Booth #409 and say hi, grab the new Charismagic #1 exclusive and new prints, grab a creator autograph and more! The official press release with creators appearing, event and panel times and more is below, see you at the show!

Aspen Bringing the Magic to WonderCon 2011

Press Release

03-30-11

San Francisco is the sight of Aspen Comics’ next stop on their convention tour, as the publisher will head north for this year’s WonderCon 2011. Aspen creators Frank Mastromauro, Peter Steigerwald, Vince Hernandez, Mark Roslan, J.T. Krul, Beth Sotelo, Joe Benitez Alex Konat, Jason Fabok will be greeting fans all weekend long at the Aspen Comics Booth #409, and signing books, sketching for fans, and previewing all of Aspen’s exciting upcoming titles.

Aspen is offering an exclusive cover for their new sellout hit series, Charismagic. Aspen will mark the world premiere debut of the dark fantasy series with an exclusive Charismagic #1 WonderCon 2011 cover by the series team of Khary Randolph and Emilio Lopez, limited to 500 copies. Charismagic is created and written by Vince Hernandez with art by Khary Randolph and Emilio Lopez.

In addition to the exclusive Charismagic #1, Aspen will be offering a new series of their industry-leading art prints featuring Aspen’s most popular covers and characters, exclusively at the Aspen Comics Booth #409. Aspen is also bringing a large assortment of Aspen’s hottest variant covers of their latest releases including Lady Mechanika, Charismagic, Fathom, Soulfire and more.

The publisher will also be hosting various programming events all weekend long, highlighted by the Official Aspen Comics Panel on Saturday from 12:00 to 1:00pm in Room 236. The entire Aspen Comics crew of creators will be on hand, along with a few surprise guests, to showcase the company’s upcoming titles and projects for 2011 and beyond including a first look at the all new Executive Assistants of the huge Aspen summer crossover event, Executive Assistant: Iris “The Hit List Agenda.” Aspen will also preview news for Fathom, Soulfire, Lady Mechanika, Charismagic and the upcoming series, Broken Pieces, and more never-before-seen art.

Aspen will also be hosting Portfolio Review sessions for artists, inkers and colorists all weekend long in Room 226 with Aspen Editor-In-Chief Vince Hernandez. Portfolio Reviews will be held on Friday from 2:30-4:30. Saturday from 2:00-3:00, and Sunday from 1:30-2:30.

For more information on Aspen Comics, please check www.aspencomics.com or www.aspenstore.com. For more information on WonderCon 2011, please check www.comic-con.org/wc

Charismagic #1 WonderCon 2011 Exclusive

2011-03-28T17:57:00.000-07:00

V here! This weekend at WonderCon, don't miss out on grabbing a copy of an exclusive cover for Aspen's newest series Charismagic #1! Aspen will also be bringing a host of new books, prints and more. Stop by the Aspen Comics Booth #409 this weekend!

V's Red Pen #1: On the Horizon

2011-03-20T13:23:00.000-07:00

Vince here my friends! It's my first blog post on our spiffy new blog on our website, so I'm taking this opportunity to show you what we have cooking in the Aspen kitchen! Before jumping into the new stuff on the horizon, I'll get right into the here and now on the books that people may be wondering about, along with some schedule updates:

Fathom: Blue Descent #'s 3 and 4 are on the way shortly. Ever so often with creative projects, there's a risk of the unexpected happening to stall the assembly line and that's exactly what happened for a bit on Blue Descent--no fault to the team, David Schwartz and Alex Sanchez. Rest assured however, we remedied the situation and are closing in on the final pages of art for this one, so expect those last 2 issues to be in stores shortly in the coming months...

Speaking of unforeseen circumstances, Lady Mechanika #2 hit a similar road bump when life dealt some unexpected happenings to the creative process, but issue two is almost all wrapped up and this bi-monthy phenomenon will be out very, very soon! I've had the pleasure of hearing Joe's ideas for what's in store for Lady M, and you guys are gonna wet your little steampunk pants.

On the subject of soon, we'll be hitting the home stretch on two series here--Mindfield and The Scourge. We're finishing up the final issue of Mindfield and the last two issues of The Scourge now. If you guys haven't checked out Mindfield yet, you're really missing out on a kick ass political thriller. I always knew JT Krul had some disturbing crap going on inside his head, but he's really let it all out on the pages on this one. There's some sick stuff in these last 2 issues and one particular scene that will make you happy you can't read minds. So, in effect, JT's depraved mental dive into disturbia is your gain! The Scourge is another gem we're home-stretching and Eric Battle's art on this one has been nothing short of spectacular. In case you didn't know, the same creator who brought you the TV show The Walking Dead, Gale Ann Hurd is also the creator of The Scourge. And I'd say she knows a thing or two about creature tales of awesomeness. From the editor's standpoint, working on a book with another company can often times be an annoying venture where too many cooks are offering up too many ingredients for the finished meal. But with Valhalla, it's been a fun ride as they're just as invested in the project as we are, and their enthusiasm is contagious. The finished product has been a fun-filled horror tale of modern day New York infested with murderous gargoyles. I'm proud to see these two new books widening the genres of our Aspen Universe!

As I'm sure you know, the Aspen U is held up by two major tent poles--Fathom and Soulfire, and I'm happy to report both are back and bigger than ever! Fathom has been one of those titles that has seen rough waters the past few years as we've adjusted to life without its creator, Mike. It hasn't been easy. For a studio filled with strong-minded creators, perhaps Fathom has been the one title that has drawn the most passionate and heated conversations within the studio about it's content. But one thing is certain: we love this book to death and are seeing to it that Mike's vision for it is carried on as he would've wanted. The new team of Scott Lobdell, Alex Konat and Beth Sotelo are also down with this mantra, trust us. Issue zero is just about wrapped up and I can't remember being this excited about a new Fathom issue in quite awhile. The story and the art. The color palette that Beth is delivering, it's gonna be a volume of Fathom to remember. I can't wait for you guys to see.

Mike's other baby, Soulfire, is also getting the royal treatment with a brand spankin' new artist and colorist, Jason Fabok and John Starr, to compliment JT's magical words. These dudes make my life easy. After working with Marcus To on volume 2 and now Jason on volume 3--I'm convinced there's something in the water up north in Canada that makes artists produce on schedule and always with amazing results. Jason turns in a batch of pages every few days and each one kicks the previous one's ass. If you read the end of volume 2, you know Grace and the gang have fallen on hard times. Jason is capturing this dark feeling with his pencils and line work, which is funny because Jason's a cool dude, but not all that dark.

This summer, David Wohl, Eduardo Francisco and Executive Assistant: Iris return with a bang! Well actually, quite a few bangs with "The Hit List Agenda." This is our first pass at a crossover event type deal and I'm actually really excited for this. At first, I won't lie, I nearly suffered a heart attack when we discussed the scope of the HLA, but now that the art is rolling in I'm pretty sure it's gonna be worth it and more. Executive Assistants Orchid, Lotus and Violet are coming! Nearly a dozen of Aspen's finest have joined in to deliver you the HLA and their names will be revealed in the next couple of weeks, perhaps at Wondercon? Who knows...

There's also a new dark fantasy book by Aspen called Charismagic brought to Khary Randolph, Emilio Lopez, Josh Reed, Siya Oum and a whole lot of other talented people, and myself. I'm biased and think you should check out. It has magicians and wizards, druids and witches, and coming soon--fairies, perhaps? Check it out and see! A quick update on some dates: The reprint of issue #0 will be in stores March 30th and #1 now on April 6th. I sincerely hope you check it out as I think if you enjoy magic, fantasy and sin city, you may like this!

We announced a new book by Aspen's Dir. of Design and Production--and MY roommie--Mark Roslan called Broken Pieces and it'll debut this summer. It's a sci-fi, action and love story all rolled into one, and I'm excited for it for sure. I'm sneakin' you guys this teeny lil' peek above of it without checking with Mark, but I cooked him bacon and eggs this morning so this makes us even--but your gain!...

Shrugged fans! Stay tuned to this blog and aspencomics.com as I'm sensing more hijinks from Theo, Dev and Ange coming soon. Updates on the way...

I've also heard some rumblings from Frank and Mark about a certain new sketchbook 'returning' at this summer's cons by a certain company founder perhaps...

Peter is in his usual post on the front lines of the attack of the colors on some of Marvel and DC's finest, but is also coloring up quite a few Aspen covers coming up as well as Lady Mechanika interiors and his own super duper project, Zooniverse, which we announced last year at SDCC. Let's all give P a big cup of coffee to keep him going...

Josh Reed is lettering away on all of our titles, and celebrating the 2nd bday of his cute little girl....

We have some new additions to the studio now: Chaz Riggs, who has come on to help master the realm of digital inks with Mark as his Miyagi. Chaz is also helping out in production and is all all around swell guy.

Me welcoming Chaz to the team:

Stephanie Matson has come aboard to help in the marketing dept. and has been integrating herself into the comic book world. She has the ultimate divine pleasure of sharing an office with yours truly so I have dubbed her the honorable title of 'day wife,' and she has yet to make me want a divorce. In fact, Steph is a sensational addition to the Aspen team!

And the cheerful Brooke Vallone is holding down the sales and promo/ebay dept, providing you guys with some choice prints and products like only she can. So, we're happy to be welcoming them to the crew...and pray for their survival.

Micah Gunnell is in Brazil and has been working hard on pages for his new series, yet to be announced. Finding shipping options for his pages has been quite a challenge but it's hard to get mad at him when he gives me his antonio banderas puss in boots look below:

A leprechaun resembling Aspen's Chris Rupp has been spotted around downtown Chicago this past weekend...

Random Thought of the Day: With all the disasters, war, and hate happening in the world today. I think we so often find it easy to develop an existential outlook on life. A cynical nature. Negativity, etc. But, if you've read this far, I'd like to think or hope you've taken some enjoyment out of it. But if not, at the very least, I hope you'll encourage yourself to at least try to find the positive inspiration out of life from the things you love--and fuel that inspiration it by replacing any hate with hope.

That's all for blog post #1! Hope you enjoyed my ramblings.

-V

Just another day at Aspen...

2011-03-18T13:22:00.000-07:00

SpiderSteph shows Vincetastic the art of scaling walls.

Yes I was bit by a spider years ago and yes there is a sweet scar and super powers. Duh
-Steph

Aspen Fun Time!

2011-03-09T12:07:00.000-08:00

Hello Everybody!
This is Mark Roslan, Director of Design and Production at Aspen Comics. We wanted to add something fun to our website where we show off some of the antics and behind the scene action that you wouldn't normally get to see. Like me hanging out with Natalie Portman on the way to the comic book store :)

The whole studio has access to the page and will try to post some fun pictures and stories on a regular basis so please stop in regularly to check it out!

Best,
Mark

WELCOME TO THE ALL-NEW ASPEN COMICS BLOG!

2011-03-04T13:39:00.000-08:00

What's up, AspeNation? Welcome to our blog! Watch this space for up-to-the-minute news and views on your favorite Aspen books and creators. Here you can find links to Aspen headlines from around the Internet, as well as getting a peak behind-the-curtain of all things Aspen. If there is anything you would like to see in this blog, let us know!