The GSD #5 Christmas Special Sneek Preview!

Ho, ho, h- cough, cough.

Sorry I've been sick for a few days and definitely not loving it. Despite my ailments and the large amount of soup I've consumed over the past 72 hours, I was still able to make it to the Comic Vault on Saturday for Lance Briggs' Holiday Comic Drive. I had a blast despite not being able to speak (my Yeah buddy, No buddy signs worked wonders for communication). I met some great people, great fans and got to meet the big man himself. He wasn't that scary. I just wanna say big ups to Matt Sardo for pretty much just being really awesome. And thanks to everyone who donated their old comics, you're helping a great cause.

So as I promised (although a bit late) here is the preview of the Great Sandwich Detective #5 Christmas Special, aka Toasts Of Christmas Past. I did it a bit differently this time around and did the issue in the style of a storybook. So each page is one big painting with a caption. I know, I know. I just blew your mind. Merry Christmas.







Issue #5 will be in stores December 22nd. It's 32 pages of story, 36 pages total including guest pinups by Art Baltazar and George Rizok.

And as an added Christmas bonus, I am putting the Christmas issue up for sale a week early over at IndyPlanet.com. That's right, this Wednesday, December 15th, you can order the GSD #5 a whole week early! Oh, is that not enough? Also this Wednesday, for one week only I'll also be putting the Chicago Comic-Con 2010 exclusive variant of Issue #3 up in the store as well. Everyone calm down.

Phew.

In non-GSD-related news, I'll be on the artists panel again this Thursday for the December edition of Atomic Sketch at evilOlive in Wicker Park. I'll be joined by other great artists including my brother Danny. Be there.

And that should be my last event appearance of 2010. Man, what a year. But I'll wrap that up later. I'm currently working out my convention schedule for 2011 and I can already tell it's gonna be a great year. New places. New people. Also familiar places and people. All awesome. Good times.

Dave!

Early Christmas Present

Hot off the Photoshoppes, here's the cover for The Great Sandwich Detective #5, my first Christmas special. This one is called "The Toasts Of Christmas Past" and features a take on A Christmas Carol with our hero considering retirement after failing to catch a toy thief. Of course ghosts come and talk to him. Of course. Another treat is that this is an extra long issue, clocking in at 32 pages of story & art. And possibly the best present of all? No raised prices! Save that money for other Christmas gifts. $3.99 for a 32 page book? I know, I'm just giving it away! And you think that's it? Nope.



Super limited sketch cover variant! BAM! That's right. Buy your GSD Christmas Special and have a better artist sketch on it! Merry X-mas!

There will also be another surprise popping up on the inside as well. Who knows?

In a couple weeks I have some holiday events going on. I will be part of Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs' holiday toy drive on December 11th at The Comic Vault. Lance and a buncha great local artists will be there signing and sketching and taking your comic book donations that will go to children in need and soldiers overseas. It's an awesome cause. And Atomic Sketch has invited me back to be part of their December show on the 16th. Really looking forward to it as I had a lot of fun at the November show. Come out, have a drink and see some great art. Even my brother Danny will be there drawing his art of questionable content. Fun for everyone over 21.

I guess that's it for now. Busy, busy!

- Dave!

The Admiral

Here's a poster I did for The Rails' show at The Metro on December 19th. I'm gonna be printing some of these up on nice 100 lb. paper and the dudes will have them on sale at the show. So if you want one of these bad boys, stop by and pick one up. Some lower quality copies will probably be popping up around the city in the next couple weeks.

- Dave!

Light Bright!

This is a poster I did for a screening of Gremlins my friend is hosting in December. I continued with the style I did for the Star Wars screening we had a while back. I'm gonna print some of these up on nice paper to give away at the show. Total size with border will be 11x17.


Click to enlarge.

- Dave!

Happy Thanksgiving/ Oh, Black Friday!

Hey everybody. Just stopping by to say hello and Happy Thanksgiving. I'm infinitely thankful for all the people who bought my comics and/or came to my table at a con and gave me a chance this year. You are all incredible. I am so lucky to be making comic books at all but to hear your kind words about my work makes it all the greater. So thank you. Hopefully you all have a great and safe holiday and you eat all kinds of food!

If you need a break from the chaos of Black Friday tomorrow, stop by the Comic Vault tomorrow starting at 11 for their Post Apocalyptic Thanksgiving Sale. They're going to have RIDICULOUS deals all day like 35% off everything and $1 back issue. I know I'll be blowing quite a bit of my paycheck tomorrow. There will also be great local talent there all day like Jim Terry (Lie Down Low), Robert Rodi (Astonishing Thor) and myself! I will be there from 5-7 signing comics and doing sketches. I'll also be coming straight from a 12 hour workday, so bear with me if I'm on the verge of passing out. Anyone who brings me an energy drink, coffee or rubs my back gets a free sketch! Yeah!

So hope to see you all there tomorrow!

And finally, a little sneak peek of The Great Sandwich Detective Christmas Special, in stores December 22nd:



Dave!

National Sandwich Day!

Happy National Sandwich Day! I hope you're having a good one. To celebrate the holiday, I did a special release of some limited edition sandwich prints. I did four different paintings and made prints of each and scattered them at four different locations in the city. If you haven't gotten one already, you should head over to the following locations. They are totally free and extremely limited!

"The Classic"
Available at The Comic Vault
Olive green ink on light green watercolor
Printed on Bristol, approx. 7.5 x 10
"Corned Beef On Rye"
Available at Brainstorm Comics
Dark purple ink on light purple watercolor
Printed on Bristol, approx. 7.5 x 10
"The Hoagie"
Available at G-Mart Comics
Sky blue ink on light blue watercolor
Printed on Bristol, approx. 7.5 x 10
"Grilled Cheese"
Available at Challengers Comics & Conversation
Red ink on red-orange watercolor
Printed on Bristol, approx. 7.5 x 10

All prints are signed and numbered. Some stores are giving them out randomly and some if you buy a Great Sandwich Detective issue. If you're one of the lucky few, high five!

I unfortunately have to move back the re-release of Issue #0 again. I'm currently tied up with working on the Christmas issue of GSD as well as preparing some other pitch properties. I will be releasing it in January as a sort of annual. This also gives me some more time to get some more awesome pinups and prepare some more awesome stuff for it. Again, sorry for the delay but I want to make sure I have time to do the best work possible on the Great Sandwich Detective #5 Christmas Special.

And for anyone who has gone out and picked up a copy of The Halloween Issue, thank you. You're awesome and I hope you had an awesome Halloween.

Keep checking back for more goodness. I'm gonna try to get back on track with posting up sketches and whatnot. Yeah buddy!

Dave!

The Great Sandwich Detective #4 Out Today!

Today marks the release of The Great Sandwich Detective #4, the Halloween special. It's an amazing issue that features guest stories from my good friends Dave Scheidt and Dave Gruba. It also features a two page backup food monster guide from Joe Tinaglia and amazing pinups from Frank Fosco (TMNT), Ryan Browne (God Hates Astronauts) and Dana Lechtenburg. It's an awesome issue and you should go check it out. It's currently available at The Comic Vault, Brainstorm Comics, G-Mart Comics, Challengers and Chicago Comics. It will also be available to order online at Indyplanet.com in a day or so.

This Saturday from 11-5 at The Comic Vault you can come by to see myself, Dave Scheidt and Dave Gruba as we sign copies of The GSD #4 and hang out. I'll also be doing sketches and I'll have a brand new limited edition watercolor print for sale. We'll also be bringing some candy to give out as well.

That's all for now! Finishing up the Issue #0 re-release which comes out November 24th! It's gonna be awesome!

Have a safe Halloween and hope to see you Saturday!

- Dave!

Issue #0 Re-Release: November 24th

UPDATE: The Issue #0 Special Edition release date has been moved to early January. I apologize for the delay but I am currently tied up with doing the GSD Christmas Issue!

To celebrate National Sandwich Day, November 3rd, this year, I will be re-releasing the first ever The GSD comic I ever did, The Great Sandwich Detective vs. The Egg Machine (a.k.a. Issue #0). The special edition will feature all kinds of new stuff. But first, let's take a sneak peek at the cover.



That will be the brand new cover which sets Issue #0 into the usual cover scheme of the series. The issue will also be reformatted from it's original magazine style layout to the modern day comic size that all the other GSD issues are in. It will also feature updated artwork. I didn't re-do the issue but when I originally put it out in a pencil grayscale style. I'm currently reinking the issue so the characters have actual outline. I'll also be reapplying the grayscale scheme but with ink and paint instead. Along with the story will be a new edition of The Sandwich Shop, a pinup gallery featuring art from amazing local artists, original concept art from when I first designed The GSD and more.

And if that's not enough, this issue will come with a "radio play" of the issue featuring my good friend Jacob Carlson as The Great Sandwich Detective and a cast of other great people as the rest of the characters in the issue. There will be a sleeve with a CD with the recording stuck to the inside cover for you to read along to. I will also upload the recording as an .mp3 for anyone to download. I'm really excited about it. If it turns out well, we may be doing other issues in the future.

Plus! Since I am fixing the art from the original pages, the odd format is forcing me to piece the panels together. So I will not have full intact pages as my original boards for this issue. So I'm going to take the random panels and hide them inside random copies of the comic. That's right, I'm giving away original parts of the comic for free! I know, I'm insane.

So there we go. I hope you all are as excited as I am about the special edition.

I'm lining up a special Halloween weekend signing for the release of Issue #4 with myself, Dave Scheidt and Dave Gruba. So stay tuned for details as I should have them soon. Unfortunately, I will no longer be attending Kokomo Con nor Detroit Fan Fare as originally planned. However, the 23rd I will be appearing at the "Norman Osborn For Illinois Governor" rally at G-Mart Comics with a bunch of other awesome artists. So my last con of 2010 will most likely be Austin Comic-Con. Again, I'll have more details on all of the events soon.

Issue #4 is at the printers, I'm finishing up the Issue #0 art and then onward to the Christmas issue!

- Dave!

Boo!

Show poster I did for Cochise Soulstar's upcoming show at The House Cafe on October 9th. (Disregard the Friday, it will be fixed)

Got a couple in-store appearances lining up next week so stay posted for more details, which I will have shortly. I'll also be announcing the details of the Issue #0 re-release that's coming in November. This weekend is 24 Hour Comic Project which is always a blast. I urge you to find a participating shop and go nuts! I'll be participating at the Comic Vault here in Chicago. You're more than welcome to attend. There will be pizza, energy drinks and insanity.

UPDATE: To promote the launch of The Great Sandwich Detective at G-Mart Comics, I will be appearing there next Friday, October 8th from 3-5 PM. I will be signing copies of books and doing sketches and whathaveyou. So come on out. Brian Walsby of the band Double Negative will also be appearing, signing copies of his books. G-Mart is located at 2641 N Kedzie Ave. in Chicago (Logan Square).

Also, the full run of The Great Sandwich Detective is now available for online order through IndyPlanet.com!

Now back to wrapping up Issue #4!

Dave!

Zombie Puppet!

I stumbled upon this the other day. This was a little doodle I did for Little Brass Bird while hanging out in the Artists Alley at Chicago Comic-Con. They were giving everyone these cool blank puppet templates to draw on. So I did a zombie.



You should go check their website out. Tons of really cool stuff. www.littlebrassbird.com

- Dave!

Halloween Special Cover Preview

Hot off the Photoshops, the front cover of the Great Sandwich Detective #4, the Halloween Special!

This is going to be a really awesome issue. I did something different for this one. Instead of it being one long story, I split the issue into three shorts. I invited my friends Dave Scheidt and Dave Gruba to write two of the stories so this is the first time you'll see The GSD done by other writers, which is really awesome. Dave S.'s story is called "Witching Hour" and Dave G.'s is called "Dr. Pickle & Mr. Brine". In between those will be a one page strip I wrote called "Trick 'R Stuff". In the back we'll see amazing pinups by Frank Fosco and George Rizok as well as a special two-page guest backup story written and drawn by Issue #3 pinup artist Joe Tinaglia. Also included with the issue will be a Great Sandwich Detective jack o' lantern pattern. The Great Sandwich Detective #4 will be in stores October 27th.

- Dave!

Movie Business

I got hired to do some fake comic covers for a movie that's filming at Brainstorm soon. I had to switch my style up a bit so it looked like 3 different books from 3 different artists. Here are two of them (the third book is just going to be the cover of The Great Sandwich Detective #3).


This is actually an old Fourth Of July poster I did. I just changed the text and made it even more metal. F**k Yeah Comics sounds like an awesome publisher.
With this one I tried to make a stereotypical indie hipster comic. The photo reference is none other than Aaron Pittman. And of course you can't forget the Helvetica.

Yep.

Hard at work on Issue #4. It's turning out really awesome. Can't wait to share it with you all!

Dave!

Sneak Peep!

Dave!

P.S. Issue #3 is out! You go get it!

The GSD #3 Out Tomorrow! My 100th Blogging!

Woohoo! Celebration! My 100th blogging on the blog! Yeah buddy.

Ahem.

Tomorrow is the release of The Great Sandwich Detective #3. I'm very proud of this issue. I worked really really hard on it and I hope you all enjoy it. Tomorrow you'll be able to pick up copies at Brainstorm Comics, Challengers Comics and The Comic Vault. (The other stores will have it in a couple weeks. Sorry!).

And tomorrow the Comic Vault will be hosting a release event for The GSD. I'll be there from 12-7 PM, sketching and signing and hanging out. We'll be having a sandwich seminar where you can make your own sandwich and enjoy it with the Comic Vault staff. I'll also have some random giveaways including shirts and prints. And every copy of GSD #3 purchased at The Comic Vault will come with a limited edition poster. Bam!

So I hope to see you all there tomorrow. I know the other comics don't come out til Thursday but let's celebrate sandwiches and detectives together tomorrow! Yeah!

Dave!

A New Hope

Here's a poster I did for an outdoor screening of A New Hope that we're doing at our apartment this weekend. I did it all digitally using my Wacom tablet. I went with basically a digital approach to cel-drawings and I really like how it turned out. I collaged it all together in Photoshop and added in the band, logo and text. It's borderless, 8.5 x 11. I may redo it soon in 11 x 17 without the additional text about the screening and make prints of it. This was the first big project I've done digitally and again I like the way it turned out. I'm working on a series of pop-culture related prints using this technique and I'll post them as I go along.



I thumbnailed out the portion of the Great Sandwich Detective Halloween issue that I wrote the other night and I'm going to start penciling it this week along with Dave Scheidt's portion. Once I get Dave Gruba's script I'll start thumbnailing his. I have a couple of great pinups lined up as well for this issue. It'll be hitting stores October 27th, just in time for Halloween and Detroit Fanfare.

I'm going to be doing a big re-order this upcoming week to restock most of the stores. So all my carriers should be in stock of Issues #1-3 within the next couple weeks. (Most of the city stores will have Issue #3 on September 8th). I'll also have my books in three new stores: Alternate Reality, G-Mart Comics and Westfield Comics (Madison, WI). I'm also talking to a number of stores as well. I'm still looking to expand to more stores outside of Illinois. If you're one of my out-of-state readers and would like your local shop to carry The GSD, please feel free to contact me.

That's it for now!

Dave!

8/28/10

- Dave

P.S. I still have some Great Sandwich Detective shirts leftover from Chicago Comic-Con.
P.P.S. Just a reminder that Issue #3 has an official retail release on September 8th and I will be at The Comic Vault that whole day signing and sketching.

Chicago Comic-Con 2010 Recap

Amazing weekend. Amazing. I had such an awesome time at Chicago Comic-Con. Man, I can't explain enough. Thank you everyone who came by the table this weekend. You are all incredibly awesome people. I'm glad to hear everyone's liking the books. I know I say it all the time but you all keep me motivated. I love it. It was awesome seeing some familiar faces and meeting new ones. Again, you are all awesome. Check out some pictures from the show:


Link!

Kitty Pryde and Lockheed's stache!

Harley!

Can't stop making them ghosts!

Oh man! A knitted Dalek!

Samus!

Rose Tyler with a mustache checking out the void stuff!

Argghhhh!

Lockjaw!

One of many TARDIS's I did this weekend.

Ah zombie!

Another TARDIS!

Lotta mustaches!

Everyone's favorite piece of grilled chicken.

Good times! I still have some Great Sammich shirts left. I may be putting some over at Brainstorm if you wanna pick one up. I'm going to be printing more soon and I may be opening an online shop to sell those and other stuff. I'm also going to be setting up a way to buy The GSD online soon. If you're from outside Chicago or Illinois and you want a local shop to carry your book, I'm definitely willing to send them copies. Feel free to contact me about that.

So due to a shipping error, I had to push back the store release of Issue #3. If you were one of the lucky few who got a copy of the Comic-Con variant release this past weekend, I hope you enjoyed it. I'm going to be ordering more of the regular Issue #3 for a September 8th retail release. I'm going to try to reschedule the release event for that day as well.

I'm also going to be re-releasing Issue #0 on November 3rd for National Sandwich Day. It's going to feature a new cover, new format, slightly re-tooled artwork and some additional content like new pinups and a very special surprise that I'll be announcing very soon. I'm really excited about it.

The next Great Sandwich Detective is going to be out in October and will be my Halloween special. I'm doing something a little different for this one. Instead of one long story, it's going to be broken down into three short stories. I'll be providing the artwork for all three and writing one of them with two special guests, Dave Scheidt and Dave Gruba providing the other two stories. It's going to be a cool old-school horror story throwback. Don't worry about the little guys, it'll still be safe for them to read. No chainsaw decapitations or anything.

I'm still ironing out my fall convention plans. I may be heading down to Nashville Comic-Con at the end of September and then I'll be doing Kokomo Con in Indiana and Detroit Fan Fare in Michigan in October. And November may see me in Mid-Ohio Con and Austin Comic-Con. I'll have em all cemented very soon.

Well, I guess that's all for now. Keep checking by for updates and stuff!

Dave!

Chicago Comic-Con Preview!

Woah! It's already time for Chicago Comic-Con! So I figured I'd give a preview of what I'll have available at the table this year. I'm going to be in the Artist Alley at Table #3531. I'll be sharing a table with my good friends Aaron Pittman and Alejandro Rosado. They will also have cool stuff available.

As expected, I will have copies of The Great Sandwich Detective #1 and #2 available. Issue #3 is technically coming out this week. I posted up the cover preview for Issue #3 last week. That's the cover for the regular retail release. Due to a shipping error, the retail copies of Issue #3 will not be available til the end of August. I apologize for that but it was a totally unforseen hiccup. However, I will have Issue #3 available at Chicago Comic-Con in the form of a CCC-exclusive variant cover which I am proud to unveil right now:



This is going to be in limited quantity seeing as this was supposed to a limited exclusive alongside the regular retail copies of Issue #3. So if you really want Issue #3 this week you better get out to Comic-Con and pick one up!

Keeping up with my Summer Of Prints, I will have a brand new exclusive print for the convention. If you're a fan of the Ghosts! print and a fan of the 3D movie craze, you'll love this:



The print will be 8.5 x 11 on white cardstock. They will be limited to 25 copies and will be hand numbered and signed. Each print also comes with a pair of white 3D cardstock glasses. If you have a pair of old school anaglyph glasses available (red & blue lenses), you can preview the greatness above.

I will also have a limited run Great Sandwich Detective shirt for sale as well.


The red shirt with black logo will be available in small and medium. They are handscreened on preshrunk 100% cotton shirts. ($5)


The black shirt with white logo will be available only in large. They are handscreened on preshrunk 100% cotton shirts. $5

I will also have leftover prints from previous shows, original artwork and paintings and other random stuff as well. And of course, I'll be doing sketches all weekend. I'm doing $1 b & w sketches, $3 color sketches and any full size (11x14 Bristol) commissions will be based on the request.

For all you aspiring detectives out there, there will also be a Great Sandwich Detective scavenger hunt game throughout the weekend at the convention center. Hidden all over the convention center will be cardstock sandwiches. They will be stuck to walls, booths, garbage cans, bathroom stalls, etc. Each sandwich will have a random QR code printed on it. QR codes can be scanned on smartphones using a barcode scanner app. Each QR code is redeemable for a free prize at our booth including prints, shirts and comics. So happy hunting!

There will also be mini Great Sandwich Detective papercraft dolls hidden all over the convention center. If you can find him, you can keep him!

I think that just about covers it. I will be updating all weekend on my personal Twitter account (I promise to try to keep it clean for the kids) and I'll try to upload pictures throughout the weekend.

See you all at the con!
Dave!

Issue #3 Cover Preview!

I'm just giving 'em away!



Next week I'll have a preview of the Chicago Comic-Con exclusive variant cover as well as the other items and giveaways I'll have at my table in the Artists Alley!

Dave!

P.S. Issue #3 comes out August 18th!