Jet City Comic Show 2012

I had the good fortune to attend the Jet City Comic Show last weekend in Seattle, Washington at the Seattle Exhibition Hall. My friend, author James Shipman, was kind enough to share his booth space with me.

James Shipman and David Hudnut, best-selling authors in attendance at the Jet City Comic Show

James is the author of the brilliant new comedy fantasy novel Willie Washer's Local No.38. I have read the book and can attest that it's truly funny. I got a lot of laughs out of reading it, and I know that if you like fantasy novels and a good laugh, his book will do the trick.

Unboxing posters of LifeBringer by David Hudnut

If you've ever been to the Jet City Comic Show, or the Seattle Exhibition Hall, then you will remember how much the space is reminiscent of several 1970s era low budget sci-fi movies. The moment I walked in the front door, I was thinking about both versions of THX 1138, a scene from the original Death Race 2000 in a similarly white and linoleum covered industrial space, and every other episode of either the Six Million Dollar Man or The Bionic Woman. To me, you couldn't pick a better space for a comic convention.

A new addition for me at the show was selling a print of one of my digital fantasy paintings, shown on the left. I was pleasantly  surprised at the response it got from people. I will definitely be selling more prints at future shows, and if anyone has any specific requests for prints from my past art which you can find on my art website at https://www.hudnutart.com/ please let me know.

A high point of the show was when I learned that Kibiri Foxx, a Brigade CO of the Outer Rim Brigade http://outer-rim-brigade.com/, was a big fan of my new horror novel Night Walk. You can see him posing with my book.

Kibiri Foxx loves horror novel Night Walk

For those of you who don't know, it is my understanding that Kibiri Foxx is Boba Fett's older, hipper brother. Long before Boba Fett was cool, Kibiri Foxx was traveling the galaxy, making mayhem wherever he went, and generally paving the way for future generations of bounty hunters like his little brother Boba. I think you'll all agree that Kibiri is 1,000 times cooler than his li'l bro Boba, who is after all, named after a tapioca tea drink that requires kiddie-sized drinking straws to suck up the boba balls. And seriously, who wants to suck Boba Fett's balls through a drinking straw?

I don't.

Kibiri also told me that he tried to get Boba Fett to read my book, but Boba was too scared. Want a wimp.

Another show attendee I met was Lilith Faire, a regular contributor at Geek News Network  and fiction writer in her own right. Check out her ongoing story Book of Souls at her blog. It is dark, grandly Lovecraftian, and creepy as hell. Lilith proves that books really are dangerous, and that she's a writer brimming with fantastic ideas, one to keep your eye on.

While we chatted, I took a moment to draw a sketch of Lilith in a freshly minted copy of Night Walk. I think you will agree that Lilith is a dangerous and witchy woman capable of casting all manner of elaborate eldritch magicks to satisfy her every whim. Do not mess with her or else you might find your soul eternally lost in a dark extra-dimensional abyss. Your mind will be torn asunder by the loneliness and sensory deprivation. The only thing you will be aware of is your own eternal pain, and Lilith's taunting evil laughter.

Author & Columnist Lilith Fiare with her new copy of Night Walk

During the show, I talked to a lot of people, and a common theme was a love of zombies. We can all thank The Walking Dead for bringing some much needed love to the world of zombie fandom. 

I decided to draw sketches of zombies for some of my new readers who purchased Night Walk at the show, in honor of zombies everywhere. You can see some satisfied zombie lovers in the photo below.

By the end of the day I was wiped out from selling copies of the horrifically frightening Night Walk to the hordes of rabid fans. 

Satisfied Night Walk customers & zombie lovers

I had a great time, and look forward to attending the show next year. In the mean time, if you want to purchase a copy of Night Walk, it's available on the Kindle for a bargain at $2.99.

It will scare you to death, or should I say it will scare you to undeath, because I will wager that if you read the book all the way to the end, you will in fact turn into a zombie. For some, I know this is a deterrent, but for most of you, it will be a bonus.

Buy Night Walk Now only $2.99 on Kindle at Amazon

Rose City Comic Con 2012

Me and my booth before the mayhem

I was at the Rose City Comic-Con this weekend up in Portland. Attendance was beyond what anybody expected for a debut convention. It had the density of much larger shows like Comic-Con International in San Diego or Emerald City Comicon, but in a smaller, more intimate venue.

The fans were incredible and full of enthusiasm. A lot of them had never attended a comic convention, or had only discovered the Rose City Comic-Con on the day of the show. I think the Con owes a lot of credit to the large number of people in costume. Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Pirates of the Caribbean, Marvel & DC heroes, and zombies were all in abundance. There was even a Klingon, and my personal favorite: a guy in a "The Greatest American Hero" outfit with a permed blond wig. When you see a crowd of people wearing awesome costumes and lined up outside waiting two hours to get into the show, you probably think "I want to go wherever that guy in the Chewbacca costume is waiting to get into."

I know I certainly wanted to be there.

Although I was at Rose City Comic-Con to sell my novel Night Walk, my short story collection The Nose Knows & Other Stories, and Owie-Cadabra's Verbal First Aid for Kids (written by my friend Judith Simon Prager and illustrated by yours truly), the spirit of the American comic book pantheon was contagious. It wasn't long before I set to work sketching The Incredible Hulk, one of my all-time personal favorite Marvel Comics characters. I ended up working on him most of the weekend, and finished my first official comic convention-drawn Hulk on Sunday. Several people offered to buy the sketch, but I couldn't let go of my first-born comic con sketch baby. But through the magic of the internet, all of you can get to know him better:

My Incredible Hulk sketch from the show

For the artists out there, I drew the Hulk in pencil using a Pentel 0.5 mechanical pencil, inked with COPIC 0.35 Multiliner SP, and colored with a combination of Tombow Dual Brush pens and Stabilo Pen 68 (from the 20 color set), both of which are water based. I've used alcohol markers like Prismacolor and COPIC extensively over the years, but I've found the water-based markers are easier to blend because they stay wet longer. Make sure you draw on thick laser printer paper that has some plastic coating to it. You can tell there is a coating because the paper surface will have a slick feel. I like the Hammermill 28 pound Color Copy Digital, or something heavier like Mohawk Color Copy Premium. You can usually find the Hammermill at any office supply store. If you use cheaper papers with the water based markers, you're likely to soak your paper and the fibers will start to lift and "pill" into little wads, and possibly make a hole in your paper if it's not thick enough.

During the course of the show, I met a lot of great comic creators, including Clayton Crain, Chris Mcfann at RKDN Studios, Ibrahim Moustafa, Jonathan Case creator of Dear Creature, Alex J. Murd and James Johnson with CrazedPixel Comics, Aaron Lopresti, and novelist James Shipman, author of Willie Washer's Local No. 38. Be sure to check out all of their respective work. It's all great stuff.

I will be at Rose City Comic-Con next year for sure! I can't wait!

Thanks to organizers Ron Brister, Dave Brockway, and Matt Makin for making the show a success.

This one goes to eleven

Lately some people have been questioning exactly how metal I really am. Sure,. anyone can say they're heavy metal until they're blue in the face. But sometimes, you have to put your metal where your mouth is.

Watch the video. Enough said. I'm 111% metal. Yes, I go to eleven. 24/7.

If you want a high quality mp3 of my new song "Spread Your Wings" from my upcoming album HateBall, send me an email at

DavidHudnut {at} gmail dot com

Then feel free to spread it around to your fellow Metal Heads. I know all of you go to eleven.



SPREAD YOUR WINGS
by David Hudnut
from the album HateBall

Get a job, go to work, that shit makes me rage
Bed of lies, the coward's curse, life without a soul
I don't know why they can't see I belong on stage
They don't know I'm full of fire as I struggle to engage     yeah

I don't feel like living life
I don't want to fight this fight
I don't have the guts to go
And live this lie that's all for show      

I've been living without my heart for all these years
All these years

My friends are dead, I'm out of luck, life is running out
Should I try or will I die, what's the use of going on
I don't know why they can't see I belong on stage
Even now I'm full of life as I wonder if I still can    yeah

Hurry up son
Don't waste your life
You've only got one
And time is on the run    yeah

I've been living without my heart for all these years
All these years

I've been living without my heart for all these years
All these years

You ain't gonna die
You just gotta try
When you jump and spread your wings you'll find that you can fly    yeah

Now I'm living with all my heart and I'm flying high
Spread your wings and fly

Now I'm living with all my heart and I'm flying high
Spread your wings and fly

Spread your wings and fly