Interview with James Silvani

We were lucky enough to interview comic-book artist and commercial illustrator, James Silvani. On top of working on popular comics such as Darkwing Duck and Richie Rich, the other thing that caught our eye was the Disney character mashups with Star Wars characters. These are just few of the many that Mr. Silvani created. You can check out more of these mashups on his tumblr site.

Q: What made you want to do the Star Wars mashups?

A: Most of those were actually convention commissions. There's not a lot of working American Disney comic artists around these days so my frequent collaborator Amy Mebberson and I usually have that market cornered at most conventions. While it's fun for most people to get a straight Darkwing Duck or Stitch drawing at  Artist Alley, I prefer the challenge of mashing up those characters with the attendees' other favorite fandoms. The key is making those mashups work in context. Mickey as Luke Skywalker is all over official Disney merchandise. But knowing how to make Linguini from Ratataouille work as Luke is a real payoff for both me and the customer.

Q: What artists inspire you?

A: The first comics I remember reading were the Carl Barks' Disney Ducks comics. It showed me that action and humor could blend well together. John Severin's Cracked magazine work was also huge for me. Again, his humor and action plus his unparalleled draftsmanship really gave me something to strive for.  I also used to read a lot of newspaper comics. Peanuts, Popeye and later Calvin and Hobbes all taught me about efficiency in storytelling

Q: Are you currently working on any projects?

A: My current comics work is mostly drawing the comic book companion to the Dragons-Riders Of Berk show (based on the "How To Train Your Dragon" movie) that's running on Cartoon Network. I also just started working with Acme Archives creating artwork for both… surprise, Star Wars and other Disney properties. My first Star Wars prints should be out in time for Christmas. Next year there will be some real treats for those who followed my Darkwing Duck comics run or fans of the Disney afternoon in general.

Q: Do you read comics? If you do, what are some that you are currently reading?

A: I live on Maui and we don't even have a comic shop here so it's tough to browse through what's current out there.  I usually pick up things from individual creators that I like. I make it a point to always get Eric Powell's The Goon, Bill Willingham's Fables and Los Bros. Hernandez' Love & Rockets. I also grab anything by Darwyn Cooke, Jeff Smith and Roger Langridge.

Q: You have about 20 years of experience as a freelance artist, what changes have you seen in the industry? 

A: As far as comics go, Superhero comics died for me over that 20 year span. The best superhero stories during that time were told in the DC Animated Universe and more recently in the Marvel cinematic universe. 

Q: What advice do you have for new artists?

A: Draw, Draw, Draw! Everyday! And don't superheroes, draw what you see around you. Draw your family, your dog, your car, your neighbor that you hate. When you can figure out how to translate what you see everyday to the page, it will help you infinitely in bringing what's in your imagination to life. 

We just want to thank Mr. Silvani for this great opportunity. You can check out more about James Silvani below:

www.silvaniart.com

silvaniart.blogspot.com

twitter.com/SilvaniArt

silvaniart.tumblr.com 

Interview with Vince Hernandez of Aspen Comics

 Aspen Comics has been one of our favorite comic companies to produce a couple of our favorite series now, which include Michael Turner's Fathom, Lady Mechanika, and Charismagic.

We love Charismagic, which is a series created by Aspen Comics Chief Editor, Vince Hernandez.

Here is the backstory to Charismagic:
Everything you know about magic will…vanish. Hank Medley was at the top of his game. As a Las Vegas magician, or as he preferred to be called-- "An Entertainer," his life was filled with fame, wealth, and excitement. Yet, his fortune and stardom quickly disappeared faster than his world famous vanishing trick. Soon, Hank discovers that magic, something he thought only existed in his fictitious Vegas show, is far more real than he ever could have imagined on stage. And this shocking realization sends him on a deadly quest filled with wizards, sorcerers, druids, witches and mythical creatures of magic-- to not only save humanity from a deadly catastrophic form of evil, but also to transform everything he knew about himself in the process.

We recently interviewed Vince Hernandez and had a chance to see how his career began in comics and we wanted to know what we can expect for the future of Charismagic.

1) What were some of your favorite comics growing up? How about now?

Growing up, the first books that really opened my eyes to the possibility of the wonders of comics were Todd McFarlane’s issues with Spider Man. Up until that point as a kid I was mostly getting the comics because of the art, but Todd’s look on Spidey really pushed me to spend more time with the character and ultimately his story. I was also an avid fan of those old giant-sized EC Comics “Tales From the Crypt” books. I used to love the graphic novel horror format, which is funny because I’m not a big writer of that genre at all.

2) When did you realize you were going to enter the world of comics as a career?

It’s interesting because when I first began working in comics at the age of 18, it was with Top Cow and I didn’t find that experience all that satisfying—even though I spent nearly 4 years there from 1998-2001. After Top Cow let me go because they couldn’t afford to pay me anymore, I spent a year taking odd writing jobs in the entertainment industry before joining up with Mike, Frank and Peter at Aspen. Right away I knew this would be my home and my career. Those three have given me every opportunity to grow as a creator as well as learn the inside workings of the comic book industry as an editor. I’m very thankful for the latter, as it has definitely given me an advantage as a writer-- being able to see the work of so many different creators, not just my own work.

3) Who are some of your influences?

I’m influenced very much by more real-world figures in my life than any certain iconic individuals, so I would say my parents and brother who instilled a sense of values which include working hard and never giving up. Also, the aforementioned trio of Michael Turner, Frank Mastromauro and Peter Steigerwald have been very influential in driving me to reach my goals. But, I do have several authors I look up: Barry Eisler, Stephen King, Geoff Johns, Aaron Sorkin, to name a few.

4) What was your inspiration for creating Charismagic?

I’ve always wanted to write a magical adventure, and this was at the top of the list for ideas when it came time to deliver. I wanted to take the readers along on this wild ride that we were all experiencing at the same time. Once we began the process of creating the work, it was then Khary Randolph, Emilio Lopez, Siya Oum and Josh Reed who inspired the look moving forward. All of the wonderful visual elements they created from scratch helped inspire even more ideas and story elements I wanted to include. It was a very organic process from that point forward.

5) What can we expect for the future of the Charismagic series?

Big things! In addition to the second volume coming up, and the Charismagic: The Death Princess mini-series, we have a special one shot featuring everyone’s favorite talking cat named Sparkles, as well as Charismagic novel in the works. Fans of the series can rest assured there will be plenty more of Charismagic in the near future. And this is really a tribute to the fans’ support from the start.

6) Any future projects we should know about?

I’m also currently writing Executive Assistant: Assassins and we have a huge crossover event called “Executive Extinction” that I hope fans check out. Also, our biggest plans for next year revolve around our “10 for 10” initiative which will see 10 new releases for 10 months. Five new series, five popular returning series. It’s going to be huge and every first issue will be offered for the insane price of only a dollar. It will be our most ambitious project ever!

7) Where can fans expect to see you next? Any upcoming conventions?

I will most likely be at the Long Beach Comic Con in October and WonderCon 2013 next. Beyond that, I’ll be busy behind the desk helping to crank out our huge list of releases for this year and beyond.

We just want to say thank you to Vince Hernandez for the interview opportunity. We hope to catch up with him at one of the upcoming cons.

Our First Interview and Debut at Stan Lee's Comikaze Expo

Who would have ever thought? We have been fortunate to attend a few comic conventions and meet and interview some of our favorite creators, artists, and actors. Yesterday, would be something different for us and it was a thrill. We actually had the opportunity to get interviewed ourselves by Denise Vasquez (amazing artist, singer, songwriter, actress, writes articles as the "LA Cultural Events Examiner" for Examiner.com). We are honored to have had this opportunity! 

In the interview, Denise would ask us where Angry Koala Gear began and what we are all about. She would also asks us what our favorite convention was, which of course has been San Diego Comic Con. We began our site last January 2011 and it has been a thrill ride. We have had a blast in doing coverage and interviews at the various cons we have attended. During this time, we have met great people and have built great connections. We are making our debut at a convention and why not start at Stan Lee's Comikaze Expo next month, September 15th - 16th. We will have a booth where we are going to premiere our very first designer toy, Cthulu Chameleon and a few shirts. We are going to have special guests at our booth, which is booth #1706. On Saturday, we will have Denise Vasquez and Randy Martinez as our honored guests who will be signing. On Sunday, Manny of 2ndwnd.com will be making their pop culture convention debut to display some of their amazing works. Not only will we have the booth, we are also co-sponsors of the Shock and Awesome Custom Vinyl Toy Contest, which we will announce the Grand Prize Winner at the show with a trophy created by Matt Perez of Angry Koala Gear and the base created by 2ndwnd.com. Exciting things are coming!! 

Here is the interview with Denise Vasquez at Examiner.com

We are looking forward to meeting you all at Stan Lee's Comikaze Expo! Come say hi at booth #1706. 

Interview with Mark Margolis from AMC's Breaking Bad

We just had an opportunity to interview Mark Margolis who played Hector "Tio" Salamanca on AMC's Breaking Bad and I was thrilled. He is such a good guy with a great sense of humor. He was scheduled to do a few interviews and we were fortunate to be one of them. 

Margolis, 72, is well-known for his role in Scarface and is a regular fixture in Darren Aronofsky's films, including memorable roles in Pi, The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream. Margolis was honored to receive the Emmy nomination for a role, capping his more than 40-year acting career.

"I am flattered and happy to receive it. ... Whether I win or not is beside the point," Margolis said, upon hearing of his nomination. "I've been on many TV shows, but none excite me as when I get the call from production on an episode of 'Breaking Bad.' And I was fortunate enough to be graced by that production company for three years running."

AMC's Breaking Bad has won 6 Emmy Awards, which have been well deserved and nominated for Best Drama Series, Best Actor in Drama Series once again, and Best Supporting Actor and Actress in Dram Series Emmy Nominations for 2012. With the opportunity of an interview with Emmy-nominated actor Mark Margolis for his role in Breaking Bad as Tio Salamanca, we were honored. 

Here is the audio from the interview:

Beefy & Co at WonderCon 2012

Beefy & Co was another awesome booth that the Angry Koala crew had the chance to visit at WonderCon.  As we walked through the aisle, the Beefy & Co booth was impossible to miss.  They had a great variety of products, featuring many different and unique characters, which speaks leaps and bounds for their creator's imagination.  I had the chance to interview Menh Voong, aka Beefy, the owner and man behind all of the various Beefy and Co characters, including Bad Bad Buddha.  Bad Bad Buddha is one of a couple of characters that Menh has in the works for toy production.  We took pictures of the figure prototypes, which you can see below. 

If you want to learn more about Menh aka Beefy, his company Beefy & Co, and what they have to offer, please visit their website and check out their Facebook page.  Here’s a picture of me, holding the Bad Bad Buddha t-shirt that Menh gave me with the man himself.  Much thanks and love to Menh and the entire Beefy & Co crew! 

Bugs and Plush at WonderCon 2012

I don’t know about anyone else that visited the WonderCon 2012, but it exceeded my expectations by far.  One of the reasons it exceeded my expectations was the number of awesome resin and vinyl vendors.  I had the opportunity to get a couple of interviews, take a lot of awesome pictures, and make new friends.  Bugs and Plush caught my eye right away.  Bugs and Plush is a Mexican born and bred company.  Instead of going to China and getting their products manufactured, Raymundo and Carlos (the artists/designers, seen with me in picture above) decided to do everything in Mexico, which is not only commendable, but it’s good all around for building up the art toy popularity there as well.  Their toys each have stories to be told, which is taken even further with the customs that they brought to display and sell at the WonderCon.  All of their customs were done by Mexican artists, which goes to show that Bugs and Plush is at the forefront of art toys, representing our neighbors to the South.  I can’t wait until the Wabbits and the other Bugs and Plush originals hit the stores in the U.S. I had the opportunity to interview Raymundo to get a little background on Bugs and Plush and ask him how he liked the Con. 

If you want to learn more about Bugs and Plush and their products, please visit their website. 

Interview with Murs on the Yumiko: Curse of the Merch Girl Project

The Angry Koala Gear crew are fans of comics, toys, movies, and art. Something we do not touch on a lot may be music, but have had a few recent opportunities to meet and chat with a few of our favorites, especially in the Hip Hop world. Murs is one of those artists and we knew that he loved comic books, but recently learned he was working on a comic of his own. Yumiko: Curse of the Merch Girl is the graphic novel, which includes working with Josh Blaylock and Jose Garcia, and a CD, which includes work with DJ Foundation.  Murs needs our help in launching the Curse of the Merch Girl, found Here. 

We had the opportunity to interview Murs recently on Yumiko: Curse of the Merch Girl and we asked him a few questions about the collaboration.

Question #1:

Angry Koala Gear: I love the idea of creating a cd/graphic novel collaboration. How did this project come together? 

Murs: It came together after Josh Blaylock, the owner of Devils Due Press dropped a stack of comics off for me at my tour bus. I called him to thank him. We wound up meeting at a coffee shop in LA and I pitched him. He liked it and from there he kind of took the lead and found Jose Garcia to illustrate. I found a beat cd from DJ Foundation at Conspire cafe in PHX and it had Jim Mahfood art so I bought it. The beats were amazing and since I found him via my love of comics I asked him to come on board and produce beats for Merchgirl. From there the core four of us have pushed forward to bring it to this stage where the fans will help us bring it to life via kickstarter.com.

Question #2:

Angry Koala Gear: Can you tell us who Yumiko is? 

Murs: Yumiko is a latin-asian american girl who fell in love with a boy in a band. Not wanting to leave one another she's decided to be the ultimate supportive woman and take on merch responsibilities when they tour. Things happen, she smokes some spooky weed(styx) with some spooky guys and winds up being able to see things as "they really are". Thus her quest begins... 

Question #3:

Angry Koala Gear: This is a small world and you being one of my favorite artists, I was in shock when I ran into you at Charlie's Comics here in Tucson, AZ. I am from Los Angeles and love Hip Hop. Found it so crazy to run into you here and learn you are into comics. Is Yumiko going to be your only comic project or do you have any more plans or ideas of doing more projects?

Murs: We would love to do Yumi2. Other than that I would love to work with more writers and artists. If I could do songs for comics for a living that would be great. Guys like Mega Ran do it for Capcom. I would love to do that for Image, IDW, DC, Marvel, Dynamite etc... I've just read Blair Butler's HEART and would love to write some songs for whatever she does next. Or anyone else I love writers Pak, Bendis, Abnett, Lanning, P. David, B. Wood, Winnick I could go on for days and taking their stories and making songs of them would be an honor

Question #4:

Angry Koala Gear: What were some of your favorite comics growing up? What are you reading now? 

Murs: Growing up it would be anything at the 7-11 I thought looked interesting first super hero Booster Gold first series Steeltown Rockers first movement I followed the new universe Spitfire, Kickers Inc., DP7, Psi Force. Oh and the 2099 stuff Ravage, Punisher and Spidey. I was young don't judge. Now (still don't judge) Animal Man, Aquaman, Batman, Batman & Robin, Batwing, Blue Beetle, Catwoman, I Vampire(issue 6 was CRAY), Justice League, Supergirl, Superboy, Swamp Thing, Red Hood, Red Lantern, X Factor, New Avengers, Avengers Academy, X-Club, Incredible Hulk, Wolverine, Bionic Man, Prophet, Scarlett and because of you CHEW!

Chew is one of our favorites, which is why we love to share this. 
We always tell everyone to try something new, in Chew! 

Question #5:

Angry Koala Gear: Who were some of your influences? 

Murs: Rap wise LL, Cube, 40, Q tip, Juvenile, Outkast, PE, EPMD, De La and everything current from 2chainz to Open Mike Eagle. Outside of rap Prince, Elton, Elvis, Darius Rucker, Vampire Weekend, the Beatles, MJ, Luther Vandross.

We thank Murs for taking the time with his busy schedule to talk with us about Yumiko. We ran into him this past weekend at the Random (a.k.a. Mega Ran) show and had to take a picture with him and showing our support for this incredible project.

Murs and I with our Angry Koala face!!

Exclusive look in Yumiko

We just want to thank Murs again and show our love to Murs, Josh Blaylock, Jose Garcia, and DJ Foundation in creating something new! Art is amazing because it allows people to show their own creativity and bring it to life. Let's show our support in bringing something new in this project, Yumiko: Curse of the Merch Girl. 

Interview with Resident Alien's Peter Hogan

We recently had the opportunity to interview Peter Hogan, whose works include DC Comic's Vertigo, The Dreaming and The Sandman Presents: Love Street. He also has worked with Alan Moore in his America's Best Comics series,  and Tom Strong which includes the spinoff of his own, Terra Obscura. 

Peter Hogan is currently working with Steve Parkhouse on their new series, Resident Alien, which will be in stores this April 18, 2012, starting with Resident Alien #0.  Dark Horse Comics, Resident Alien is featured in Dark Horse Presents. We wanted to know a little about Resident Alien and asked Mr. Peter Hogan a few questions. 

Resident Alien

Question 1: 

Angry Koala Gear: Dark Horse Presents is an amazing anthology of old and new series. It has given us the opportunity to read some old favorites along with new. Resident Alien has been part of the Dark Horse Presents series and it will soon be a series starting this April. Can you tell us a little about Resident Alien? 

Peter Hogan: It’s about an alien called Harry, who’s crashed on Earth and is waiting for a rescue ship to come and take him home again. Meanwhile, he’s been laying low, but he ends up being recruited as the doctor for a small town in the Pacific North West – and there are murders happening in this town, and Harry ends up playing amateur detective, trying to find the killer. Meanwhile, the government knows he’s here and is trying to find him. Someone described it as “a sci-fi murder mystery”, and that pretty much sums it up.

Question 2:

Angry Koala Gear:  Is Resident Alien going to be a mini-series or do you plan to make it an on-going series? 

Peter Hogan: Both, really. It’s a miniseries, but it’s also the first in a series of miniseries. We’ll hopefully be around for quite a while.

 Resident Alien #0 

Question 3: 

Angry Koala Gear: Besides working on Resident Alien, are you currently working on any other projects? 

Peter Hogan: Chris Sprouse has nearly finished work on our second Tom Strong series, Tom Strong And The Planet Of Peril, so that should be out late this year or early next. Right now I’m writing another project for Dark Horse Presents, which will hopefully spin off into its own series. It’s a fantasy story, but that’s all I can tell you for now. 

Tom Strong and the Planet of Peril 

Question 4: 

Angry Koala Gear: Who were some of your influences? Favorite writers? 

Peter Hogan: I like lots of different writers for lots of different reasons, and there are way too many to list. In terms of comics, I’d have to say that Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Jaime Hernandez and Grant Morrison still top my list. Alan and Neil have both kind of mentored me, so I’ve obviously learnt a lot from them in particular.

Question 5: 

Angry Koala Gear: Do you have a favorite comic series that you may be reading now? 

Peter Hogan: I’ve been enjoying Jonathan Hickman’s run on Fantastic Four – and outside of superheroes, Joe Hill’s Locke & Key takes a lot of beating.

We would like to thank Peter Hogan for the interview opportunity and do look forward to Resident Alien starting this April. 

Meeting Mega Ran (AKA Random) in Tucson, AZ

This Saturday happened to be an amazing day here in Tucson, AZ!! We had the opportunity to meet Mega Ran (a.k.a. Random) at Heroes and Villains for his in store concert and signing. He had set up the show before he would have his concert at the Vaudeville later that night. He is on tour doing his VS. Tour, which featured Roqy Tyraid, Willie Evans Jr., his DJ DN3, and himself, Random.

The adventure began at Heroes and Villains, one of our local comic shops. The geeks and nerds would unite for a special treat with the in store concert. Well, we had an awesome opportunity to interview Random right before the show! 

Shortly after the interview, the show would begin. The in store concert started with Willie Evans Jr. who is truly amazing. I have not seen him before, but I can say I became an instant fan. His style reminds me of one of my favorites, MF Doom. He creates his own beats and what makes him unique is that he is the first to mix and chop a music video into his own. Incredible!!

Willie Evans Jr. would end his performance with Nerd English. This song made the crowd get hype because he showed us his room, which is filled with many action figures and comics. Made me feel at home!

After the Willie Evans Jr. performance, Mega Ran (a.k.a. Random) would come on stage. He continued the crowd pleasing with an amazing performance as we had witnessed at last year's Phoenix Comicon. He performed a few songs and ended with something very unique that he does at every show. He has a gift as he mentioned in the interview about how he continues to come up with music and lyrics. He can freestyle about literally about anything and in the in stores show he would do that about comic books.

After the show, he had a signing and made sure to meet everyone in the store. Random is such a great guy that gets everyone to love him!

The adventure would finally end at the Vaudeville, here in downtown Tucson, AZ where Random had his VS. Tour scheduled. Roqy Tyraid would open up the show with a nice performance. Willie Evans Jr. would then come on with a few songs that were familiar to us that he performed at Heroes and Villains, but I could never get tired of this incredible performance. He definitely knows how to get the crowd jumping and participating in his show.

This is one slide that I will have to always remember him for. Pretty funny!

After, Willie Evans Jr. would peform, DJ DN3 and Random would get on stage. His show at Heroes and Villains was great, but this performance at Vaudeville would be incredible! We loved his performance once again. He even had a special guest come through that had to check his show out, Murs!! Murs is one of my all time favorites and Random says Murs is his favorite. It was an awesome surprise indeed!

Just as he always ends his shows, Random did his freestyle performance. Unfortunately, he had microphone difficulities that did not allow him to come into the crowd as he loves doing, so he brought the crowd to him this time. Everyone reached into their pockets and he began to flow about those items. Angry Koala Gear would be in for a treat and some love and he mentions the Sticker! (He also mentioned loving my Adidas Stormtrooper Shirt) If you have not had the chance to see Random (a.k.a. Mega Ran), please do check him out. You will not be disappointed.



As I said earlier, Murs was in the house and we definitely had to take a picture with him. I was holding up his new Kickstarter for his cd/comic collaboration, Yumiko: Curse of the Merch Girl. There will be more info to come in a post real soon! Stay tuned!

Murs even gave us his Angry Koala face. Too awesome!!


We just want to thank Random for the interview opportunity and amazing shows at both Heroes and Villains and at the Vaudeville! We will be seeing you at the Phoenix Comicon with your shirt for sure.

Interview with Joe Benitez, Creator of Lady Mechanika

The Amazing Arizona Comic Con was this past weekend and it was truly "Amazing"! We had a blast attending the second annual for this event and it was even better this year. Some of our favorite writers and artists were in attendance and we needed to meet them. Joe Benitez is the creator of Lady Mechanika from Aspen Comics. He is the writer and artist of this incredible series. If you are a fan of the steampunk genre, you will enjoy this series. Actually, if you want to just try to read a new series, we highly recommend picking up Lady Mechanika. In a recent article we did, World of Lady Mechanika, you can see that we really enjoy the series.

Amazing Arizona Comic Con Exclusive Cover

Not only were we fortunate to pick up this amazing exclusive and get it signed by Joe Benitez, but we also had the opportunity for an interview.