BSG: Gaius Baltar & Six

Another look at one of my BSG art cards.

Good News, Bad News

I was recently hired for a really amazing freelance project that I would be a FOOL to pass up (unfortunately I can't talk about it yet or say what it is). So that's the good news. The BAD news is that it's going to be taking up a lot of my time over the next few weeks. Between this new gig and the Clone Wars comic, I have to put all of my side projects on hold for a short time - that includes the 'Wolves of Odin' webcomic.

I hate having such a rocky start to the webcomic, but paying work has to take priority. Hopefully you all understand. :) So the webcomic is temporarily on hold, but it'll be back soon.

Clone Wars - Fall Updates

I have four quick bits of Clone Wars news and reminders:

1) Season 2 is right around the corner (starts Oct. 2nd, I believe), and that means we're getting in gear to start the next batch of webcomics for StarWars.com. So those are fast approaching -- just wanted to confirm that I'm onboard again, which I'm very happy about. :)

2) Topps has a new Clone Wars set in the works. It's a widevision set, which is really cool - it's the first time there's ever been widevision format sketch cards. So I'll be on that set. I'm planning on doing a hundred sketch cards.

3) Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the kids' activity book I illustrated, should be hitting stores very soon. Amazon claims Sept. 1st is the big day. As soon as I know it's out on shelves, I'll post an update.

And last but not least,
4) Star Wars Fan Days III is coming up quickly. I will be there. I've already had a few people asking about pre-orders, and the answer is yes, I will definitely take pre-orders. I'll post more info as we get closer to the show. We still have some time. :)

BSG: Apollo & Dee

Here's a closer look at one of my BSG art cards. This one features Mr. Lee Awesomepants Adama (sporting the season 4 fluffy hair and combat vest = my favorite), the lovely Dualla, and the Battlestar Pegasus. Sort of a mixed-season collage I guess.

I love all the Pegasus stuff. If I ever draw a second set of these BSG art cards, I'm definitely doing a Cain one.

Battlestar Drawings on eBay

Auctions are 3 days only!

BSG Original Art: Gaius & Six


BSG Original Art: Chief Tyrol


BSG Original Art: Roslin & Adama


BSG Original Art: Boomer

BSG Mini-Print Art Cards

I made these in an effort to hopefully make a little bit of money to help pay for my hotel & flight for Dragon*Con (I'm going as a fan this year - I won't be set up in the artist area). Anyone who is willing to make a $10 donation to the "Grant Is Frakkin' Poor" fund can own a set of these shiny cards!

Two of the images (Tigh and Starbuck) are older drawings of mine - I gave them a slight revamping. The other four are new.

I'll be carrying the cards around with me at Dragon*Con. You can just walk up to me (I'll be at all the BSG events - it shouldn't be too hard to find me) and buy a set of the cards from me in person. Just say, "Grant, I need the cards!!"

Or if you aren't going to Dragon*Con - or don't want to have to hunt me down - you can order via Paypal instead. Send to grantgoboom@gmail.com and make sure you include your mailing address. And if you're willing to add a few extra bucks to cover shipping (especially those of you outside the U.S.), I will love you even more.

Thanks, everyone!
:)

Inglourious Basterds

I had to get out of the house for a couple hours, and let's face it: I can't resist a new Tarantino movie. Honestly, I didn't have huge expectations going into Inglourious Basterds, but I ended up REALLY enjoying it. It's brutal, tragic, funny, tense. It's the total pulp package we've come to expect from good ol' Quentin. I gotta say, too, kudos to Brad Pitt - he's a lot of fun to watch. But probably the #1 scene-stealer of the movie is a guy named Christoph Waltz. He plays the main Nazi baddie and he's insanely great. I wouldn't be surprised to see him nominated for a few Best Supporting Actor awards.

Obviously, this movie isn't for everyone. If you're squeamish, stay away. If you don't like subtitles or scenes with lots of dialogue, stay away. But if you're a Tarantino fan, you can pretty much guess what kind of craziness you're in for - it's got his stamp all over it, in every possible way. I dug it. I'd say it's probably my 4th favorite film of his, behind Pulp Fiction and the Kill Bills.

Bring on the ambrosia

Roslin/Adama poster for this year's BSG Party at DragonCon, hosted by the Colonial Fleet.

More DragonCon info coming soon...

P.S.
Thanks again to everyone for being so patient with emails. I'm trying my best to get a few projects out the door so I can finally get back to emails and commissions. Thanks :)

Widdle Cad Bane

Hey, everyone -- I am WAY behind on emails right now. Ever since I got home from Chicago, I've been playing catch-up, so please don't think I'm ignoring you. This coming week I have a couple deadlines that have to be priority one, and then I'll be answering emails, etc. Definitely feel free to send me questions or ask about a commission -- just don't get miffed if it takes me a little while to respond. :) Thanks!

Mighty Mugg feature on StarWars.com

StarWars.com posted a Q&A with me about my BoShek Mighty Mugg. Here's the link.

The auction actually just ended, so congrats to whoever the winner was! :)

District 9 (don't worry - no spoilers)

I just got back from the midnight showing of District 9, the new sci-fi flick produced by Peter Jackson and directed by newcomer Neill Blomkamp.

I don't want to say anything about the story or characters, because I feel like the less you know going into it, the more fun you'll have in the theater. All I can say is this: the movie rocks. I LOVED IT. I dare say it might've just knocked Star Trek out of the #1 spot on my Best Movies of 2009 list.

I can't wait to see it again. :)

STAR WARS FAN DAYS II Sketch Card Sale

I'm taking orders for sketch cards drawn on official Star Wars Fan Days II stock. I wanna get rid of my blanks, and now's the time to do it. You get an inked & colored Star Wars character of your choice (bust/headshot) on each card. Here's the price breakdown (each color card is usually 50 bucks):
• Get 1 card for $40 + 5 shipping = $45 total
• Get 2 cards for $70 + 5 shipping = $75 total
• Get 3 cards for $90 + 5 shipping = $95 total

Cards will be drawn and mailed during the first half of October (no refunds will be given unless your card is not mailed off in October). If you are attending either FallCon or Fan Days III and would like to pick up the card(s) from me in person, just make a note of that on your order, and then you can save yourself the $5 shipping fee!

Here's an example of one of my Fan Days II cards, to give you an idea of what they look like. They're standard trading card size and will securely arrive in a rigid plastic sleeve and photo-mailer envelope. In your Paypal order, please specify which Star Wars character you'd like (any characters from the movies, books, comics, videogames, etc. are allowed), and make sure your mailing address is on there. Please send Paypal orders to grantgoboom@gmail.com.

And let's not forget, the holidays are coming up fast! These cards are the perfect one-of-a-kind gift for the Star Wars lovers in your life. They make great stocking stuffers! :)

Some of the sketches I did @ Chicago Comic-Con

This guy had me do two similar headshots of Abe Sapien and had one of them signed by Doug Jones, who was a guest at the show - and he actually gave the other one to Doug as a gift. Pretty cool. :) (Hopefully he'll send me a photo of Doug holding the art.)



Lots of Clone Wars requests...













A lot of artists seem to be using colored paper to sketch on these days, so I thought I'd try it out. I enjoyed it a lot! I think I'll be doing it more often. Gives people a fun option - instead of plain white stock they can get something like this Yoda. Makes it pop a little more being able to add white pencil lines.





Black Canary (in the style of my old con banner):



Power Girl (I had several requests for Power Girl.. which is strange, because I don't think I'd ever drawn her before this show):



This is a creator-owned character. I think her name is "Diamond."



And finally some Zatanna:



There were a lot more sketches, but I either forgot to take photos of them, or the photos turned out blurry (which happens more than you'd think - I get shaky camera hands). Anyway, thank you to everyone that came out to the show and bought some sketches and prints!! AND thank you to everyone that picked up "Wolves of Odin!" :)

Some marker stuff

These were among the pick-ups for the Chicago show.



These two are from a 3-piece Underworld commission. I'm sure I'll get a scan of it sometime, and I'll post up the whole thing then.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

G.I. Joe was a MASSIVE part of my childhood. The action figures (holy crap, I loved those action figures), the Marvel comics, the cartoon. Loved 'em all. So I had to give this movie a chance, despite the trailers looking horrible. I went in with lowww expectations.

Turns out, it's a pretty fun movie. I'll be the first to admit - it's VERY cheesy, and there's some laughable acting/dialogue/etc. It's got all the corniness you'd expect from a movie based on a toy line. But somehow all of that doesn't keep it from being incredibly entertaining. And it does something that Transformers failed on - it makes you sort of care about the characters. It gives a little bit of depth in terms of character development and background. It doesn't rely solely on crazy action scenes to make your inner 12-year-old squee. Of course, I'm coming from the perspective of someone who grew up with G.I. Joe - I have no idea if a non-Joe person would enjoy the movie as much. I'm guessing probably not.

Two last quick things -- 1. THE GOOD) I loved Sienna Miller. I expected to hate Baroness, but she ended up being my favorite part of the movie. 2. THE BAD) Snake Eyes' lips. Lips on his mask. So ridiculously stupid and pointless. I hated his fake-muscley fake-mouth-having costume. I don't know why Hollywood thinks heroes need lips (ie. Optimus Prime). Makes me angry.

Anyway, G.I. Joe has plenty of faults - it'll be an easy movie to hate if you go into it with that mindset. But it was much better than I was expecting. Surprisingly, Stephen Sommers didn't pee all over my childhood, and for that I'm happy.

I even kind of look forward to the sequel. We'd better get some Mutt and Junkyard... and Timber!!! /nerd out

Couple SDCC Marker Commissions

War Machine and Bacara -- Thanks again, Paul!



My apologies to those of you waiting on emails from me -- I leave for Chicago on Thursday morning and I'm drowning in work that I have to get done before then. So please be patient, I'll get back to you this weekend if I can, otherwise next week sometime.

Chicago Comic-Con

Chicago Comic-Con (aka Wizard World Chicago) is this coming weekend, August 6th thru 9th. I will be doing sketches, selling prints, selling "Wolves of Odin," etc. If you're going, come find me and check out my various art goodies. I'll be set up at Artist Alley table #3310. (You can click here to download a PDF map of the whole place.) I hope to see ya there! :)