Omaha Perez

Omaha Perez is the writer and artist of the graphic novels "Bodhisattva", "The Drude" (which should be out later this year) and "Holmes". He has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators New York, the Society of Illustrators Los Angeles, Spectrum, and 3 x 3 Magazine’s annual juried illustration book. 

He also owns and operates the Los Angeles design studio Drude Studios - facebook.com/DrudeStudios. Currently he is working on "Holmes 2".

I contacted Omaha after reading "Holmes" as it was a different take on Conan Doyle mythos. It was a Holmes mystery with a touch of Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear & Loathing..." thrown in.  I found it very entertaining and am looking forward to the sequel.  This piece is actually a take on one of the covers from the series.  I was floored when it arrived as it is really a stunning piece.
 

Mike Perkins

Mike Perkins is a wonderful British artist best known for his work on Captain America, Ruse, and more recently the Marvel adaption of Stephen King's The Stand.  "Ruse" with it's Victorian detective feel and Mike's artwork is one of my favourite comics...very Sherlock Holmes-ish, with a mix of action, adventure and fantasy.  Currently he is working on the relaunched "Deathlok" series for Marvel.

I met Mike at a local comic convention here in Toronto a number of years ago and arranged this commission with him.  The main character in "Ruse", Simon Archard, is a Victorian detective, so I was hoping he'd be interested in doing a commission of Holmes for me. He was excited to do it but wanted to take his time with this piece.  Instead of doing it at the show he took it home with him and worked on it between jobs over the next little while.  It may have taken a while to finish the piece, but it is amazing and was well worth the wait. 

 

Gahan Wilson

Gahan Wilson is an author, cartoonist and illustrator best known for his horror-fantasy cartoon style. Many of his cartoons have been featured in Playboy, The New Yorker and Collier's over the last 50 years, as well as his own book collections. Among the many awards he has received over the years, in 2005 he was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement from the World Fantasy Awards and the National Cartoonists Society's Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award. More recently, he was the subject of the documentary "Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird".

I have been a fan of his work since I first picked up a copy of "I Paint What I See" years ago at a used book store. The single page cartoons were hilarious and I loved the style of his artwork.

Mr. Wilson was kind enough to do this drawing of Sherlock Holmes for me a few years ago and I could not have been more honoured. He has drawn Holmes for a number of his cartoons, but receiving an original drawing from him was a thrill of a lifetime.

Ed Hannigan

 

Ed Hannigan is a very talented artist, writer and editor working in the comic industry since the mid 70's. 

Over the years he has worked for both Marvel and DC working on titles such as "The Defenders", "The Spectacular Spider-Man" and "Green Arrow".  He helped create the characters Cloak and Dagger at Marvel, redesigned Braniac in the Superman comics, and did some amazing covers for Batman in the early\mid 80's.

The covers he did for Batman are among my all time favourites which is why I originally contacted him.  We emailed back and forth and I arranged to have him do a Sherlock commission for me.  The above picture does not do the piece justice as it is stunning.  All the little details I loved about his Batman covers, he did for this piece as well - the books, violin, painting, etc...  It's all these little things that really make this piece pop and one of my favourites. 

 

If interested, he still does commissions.  You can check out his webpage at

http://home.myfairpoint.net/hannigan7/

 

Kent Burles

Kent is a wonderful Canadian artist I have been a fan of for years.

 

His love of the comic and fantasy genres led him into the comic and role-playing game industries. Working with Malibu Comics, he created a series of "Planet of the Apes" comic books, as well as a series called "The Adventurers". His artwork can also be found in many role playing games by Fasa, Steve Jackson, White Wolf, and Anvil Galaxy and Rifts for Palladium Books. Lastly, but cetainly not least, Kent is also Max the Mutt’s Coordinator for the Illustration for Sequential Arts Diploma Program helping to teach a new generation of Canadian artists.

 

I commissioned the above piece from him back in 2008. It is a great piece based on the old Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce movie series from the 30's and 40's. Check out his website to see some of his woderful commissioned pieces of comic book hero and vilians, movie characters and stunning native people series. If you are interested, send him an email to find out about your own commissioned piece - www.kentburles.ca

Irwin Hasen

Irwin Hasen recently passed away at the age of 96.  He was one of the great artists of the Golden Age, and one of the last of the DC artists from that era.

 

While best known as a co-creator of the comic strip Dondi in the mid 1950's, he also worked in the comicbook industry both before and after the war. At DC he worked on many of the main titles including The Justice Society of America, Green Lantern and the Flash, and created the character Wildcat.

 

I had the pleasure of speaking with him a few times over the phone and he was a wonderful man with many great stories.  Above is a drawing of Sherlock he did for me a few years back at the age of 90.  He had never done Holmes before and mixed in the Hound to represent his favourite story.

Matt Wagner

In addition to Matt Wagner creating the wonderful comic book series "Mage" and "Grendel", he is also an amazing artist.  He has also worked on a number of other iconic characters like Batman, Green Lantern, The Shadow and The Green Hornet.  

With luck being on my side, I got in touch with Mr. Wagner just before he was scheduled to appear at a show here in Toronto AND just as he was about re-read the Doyle stories.  So he was gracious enough to do this great Sherlock piece for me.  It is pencil crayon on coloured paper and the finished piece looks wonderful.  I really love the look to the piece and the fact that it picks on up on a different side of the character.