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Cover artist: 100 Bullets; Deadpool; Punisher; Spaceman; Coffin Hill; Lucifer; Fury MAX; G.I. Joe WHILE many comicbook artists start off illustrating stories before either expanding their portfolio to encompass cover art or focussing exclusively (to a greater or lesser degree) on cover work, Dave Johnson began as he intended to continue. Initially credited as Crusher Dave, the artist's earliest covers were for the first four issues of Robotech: The New Generation, a 1985 Comico series for which he also drew stories in issues #2 and 4. Johnson, who'd contributed an eight-pager toMichael T Gilbert's Strange Brew (an Aardvark-Vanaheim one-shot) three years earlier, also drew 1985's Robotech: The Macross Saga #5 for Comico for which he also worked on Elementals #4 in the same year. Two years later he wrote an drew an eight-pager for Paragraphics' After Apocalypse#1 (and only), moving on to Dark Horse in 1991 for a story running through five issues of the Dark Horse Presents anthology. From that point on Johnson was increasingly drawing covers (notably a run on Dark Horse's Venus Wars II manga) although his strip work was also gaining pace. He illustrated an issue of The Web for DC's Impact line in 1992, the same year he worked on an Iron Man Annual for Marvel and DC's The Demon Annual andWonder Woman Annual. In 1993 he embarked on his first ongoing project, drawing nine of the 12 issues of Chain Gang War, a DC series for which he also produced all the covers. Alongside Chain Gang War Johnson also drew the covers and interiors forSuperpatriot, a 1992 Image four-parter, repeating the assignment two years later with the four-issue Superpatriot: Liberty & Justice. In between he was producing ever more covers, notably for The Machine for Dark Horse and DC's R.E.B.E.L.S.. Johnson's storytelling work diminished further as demand for his covers increased. Even so he continued to illustrate stories on an ad hoc basis, his credits including a four-issue run on WildC.A.T.s: Covert Action Teams for Image's WildStorm imprint and, in 1996, the one and only issue of Marvel's Resident Evil. He also frequently contributed to anthologies, for instance writing and drawing a series of connected stories that ran across six issues of Penthouse Comix beginning 1997. Two years later, Johnson produced the covers for Adventure Comics, All Star Comics, All-American Comics, National Comics, Sensation Comics, Smash Comics, Star-Spangled Comics and Thrilling Comics, a clutch of DC one-shots that set the scene for the return of the Justice Society of America. It was the artist's highest profile work up to that point but his next assignment would really make his name. Before 1999 was out, he was installed as cover artist on 100 Bullets, drawing the covers for all 100 issues of the title for Vertigo, DC's mature readers imprint. Those illustrations were his main focus until 2009 although he did cover 18 2000-2001 issues of Detective Comics and make the occasional excursion out to create covers for a variety of other titles and publishers. Among his more prominent outings were an 11-issue run on Marvel's Captain America in 2004 and all eight issues of 2007's Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes II as well as all 10 issues of 2004's Bloodhound and the eight of Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters (which came along three years later) for DC. He also covered G.I. Joe, a 2004 IDW six-parter. As 100 Bullets was drawing to a close, Johnson took on Punisher (subsequently retitled The Punisher: Frank Castle MAX before its 2010 relaunch asPunisherMAX) covering 37 issues of that Marvel title's various incarnations. He also went back to DC/Vertigo in 2009 to produce covers to 19 issues of Unknown Soldierwhile also covering all 12 issues of The Mighty for DC itself. For BOOM! Studios he covered the eight issues of Die Hard: Year One and the four of 2010's Cold Space. Subsequently the artist created covers for Prelude to Deadpool Corps (a Marvel five-parter) before moving on to the House of Ideas' core Deadpool title for which he produced a run of 19 covers, returning in 2012 to produce another 14-issue sequence. Johnson also covered a brace of Abe Sapien minis (subtitled The Abysmal Plain and The Devil does not Jest) for Dark Horse covering the first six issues of DC's 2010 series Freedom Fighters in between. In 2011 Johnson created covers for a trio of Dark Horse comics set – like Abe Sapien – in what is known as the [Mike] Mignola-verse. Alongside the three B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth titles he also covered the five-part B.P.R.D.: 1948 as well as DC's Flashpoint: Batman – Knight of Vengeance three-parter. After that he once again returned to Vertigo for the nine issues of 2011's Spaceman before bouncing back to Dark Horse's Mignola-verse in 2012 for the Lobster Johnson: The Burning Handfive-parter. He then covered all 13 issues of 2012's Fury MAX for Marvel for which he also produced a dozen covers for Ultimate X-Men. Next came a batch of covers for Marvel's Avengers Arena alongside which the artist once again returned to Vertigo for the eight issues of 2013's 100 Bullets: Brother Lono and to Dark Horse for theKiss Me, Satan! five-parter. Johnson took on the 20 issues of Coffin Hill (another Vertigo comic) in 2013 and then, the following year, the four issues of Deadly Hands of Kung Fu. The latter was for Marvel for which, in 2015, he also covered the seven issues of Silk and the five of Inhumans: Attilan Rising with the first six of Star-Lord coming along in 2016. Currently he is the cover artist on Lucifer, launched by Vertigo earlier this year. Often referred to as the Reverend Dave Johnson, the artist – who was ordained a deacon in the Methodist Church in the late '90s – has worked for all the major comicbook publishers as well as a large number of the smaller ones. His art has adorned a multitude of comics and he is increasingly in demand for variant covers and pin-ups.

Artist: G.I. Joe; Transformers; Borderlands; Smallville Attending: Friday, Saturday & Sunday PRIOR to 2010 when he worked on IDW's G.I. Joe: Operation Hiss four-parter, Agustin Padilla had illustrated G.I. Joe: Origins #6 and Star Trek: Alien Spotlight – Cardassians for the San Diego-based publisher, which gave the Spanish artist his first US credit with 2009's G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra – Setting the Stage one-shot. After Hiss Padilla moved on to G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero for a five-issue run. After that he illustrated DC's Bruce Wayne: The Road Home – Oracle (a 2010 one-shot), contributed to the second of the two issues of Marvel's X-Men: Curse of the Mutants: X-Men vs Vampires and then drew the Captain America Theater of War: Prisoners of Duty one-shot for the House of Ideas. Moving back to IDW in 2011, Padilla drew G.I. Joe: Cobra Civil War #0. The one-shot, which set the scene for an epic multi-part saga that swept across the core titles in the line of comics featuring the Hasbro action figures, was followed by the first three issues of G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes. Along the way, the Spanish artist continued to work sporadically for DC and Marvel. He also drew SSX, a one-shot published by EA Games to promote the game of the same name. After that it was back to IDW where he embarked on the five issues ofDungeons & Dragons: The Legend of Drizzt – Neverwinter Tales while simultaneously illustrating a three-issue run on Green Arrow for DC for which he then drew the final two issues of the Flashpoint: Wonder Woman and the Furies three-parter. A flurry of work for Marvel (including Amazing Spider-Man: Webslinger, a Walmart promotional four-pager) followed in 2012 but then IDW came calling again, this time with two simultaneous four-issue projects: Borderlands and The Transformers Prime: Rage of the Dinobots. Subsequently the Spanish artist would work on eight-issue sequels to both: first Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters in 2013 and then the following year Borderlands: The Fall of Fyrestone (subsequently retitled Borderlands: Tannis and the Vault). In between, with Beast Hunters at an end, Padilla – who'd drawn another promotional one-shot, the 16-page Harley Davison/Iron Man) as he embarked on that eight-parter – took to working for DC's digital arm. His involvement inAdventures of Superman, Smallville: Chaos (for which he illustrated all 12 chapters) and Infinite Crisis: Fight for the Multiverse along with the Borderlandssequels took him into 2015, since when his comics output has been limited to the occasional cover.

AGUSTIN PADILLA Artist: G.I. Joe; Transformers; Borderlands; Smallville ATTENDING: Saturday & Sunday PRIOR to 2010 when he worked on IDW's G.I. Joe: Operation Hiss four-parter, Agustin Padilla had illustrated G.I. Joe: Origins #6 and Star Trek: Alien Spotlight – Cardassians for the San Diego-based publisher, which gave the Spanish artist his first US credit with 2009's G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra – Setting the Stage one-shot. After Hiss Padilla moved on to G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero for a five-issue run. After that he illustrated DC's Bruce Wayne: The Road Home – Oracle (a 2010 one-shot), contributed to the second of the two issues of Marvel's X-Men: Curse of the Mutants: X-Men vs Vampires and then drew the Captain America Theater of War: Prisoners of Duty one-shot for the House of Ideas. Moving back to IDW in 2011, Padilla drew G.I. Joe: Cobra Civil War #0. The one-shot, which set the scene for an epic multi-part saga that swept across the core titles in the line of comics featuring the Hasbro action figures, was followed by the first three issues of G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes. Along the way, the Spanish artist continued to work sporadically for DC and Marvel. He also drew SSX, a one-shot published by EA Games to promote the game of the same name. After that it was back to IDW where he embarked on the five issues ofDungeons & Dragons: The Legend of Drizzt – Neverwinter Tales while simultaneously illustrating a three-issue run on Green Arrow for DC for which he then drew the final two issues of the Flashpoint: Wonder Woman and the Furies three-parter. A flurry of work for Marvel (including Amazing Spider-Man: Webslinger, a Walmart promotional four-pager) followed in 2012 but then IDW came calling again, this time with two simultaneous four-issue projects: Borderlands and The Transformers Prime: Rage of the Dinobots. Subsequently the Spanish artist would work on eight-issue sequels to both: first Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters in 2013 and then the following year Borderlands: The Fall of Fyrestone (subsequently retitled Borderlands: Tannis and the Vault). In between, with Beast Hunters at an end, Padilla – who'd drawn another promotional one-shot, the 16-page Harley Davison/Iron Man) as he embarked on that eight-parter – took to working for DC's digital arm. His involvement in Adventures of Superman, Smallville: Chaos (for which he illustrated all 12 chapters) and Infinite Crisis: Fight for the Multiverse along with the Borderlands sequels took him into 2015, since when his comics output has been limited to the occasional cover.

Latest Comic Guest Announcement - Herb Trimpe Attending: Sat & Sun Artist: Incredible Hulk; Captain Britain; G.I. Joe FAMED for introducing the Canadian hero who went on to become Marvel's most popular mutant during his long and popular run on Incredible Hulk​, Herb Trimpe's comics career goes back over a decade before he and writer Len Wein brought Wolverine into the Marvel Universe in 1974. Trimpe – who illustrated a variety of Westerns and licensed comics for Dell prior to enlisting in the US Air Force in 1962 – joined Marvel upon his discharge in 1966. Initially working in production, he picked up various inking assignments before coming on board Incredible Hulk as regular penciller in 1968. Across the next seven years he made the character his own, drawing an all-but unbroken run of 86 issues while also producing covers, the occasional fill-in and introducing the World War I fighter ace, Phantom Eagle in Marvel Super-Heroes​ #16 [1968]. After parting company with the Jade Giant, the artist moved on to collaborate with writer Chris Claremont on the creation of Captain Britain. Having illustrated 19 of the first 24 issues of the Marvel UK weekly he and writer Doug Moench set about integrating Japan's most famous monster into the Marvel Universe. He pencilled all but two of Godzilla's 24 issues, quickly following up with a 14-issue run on Defenders while at the same time teaming up again with Moench to integrate another Japanese concept into the MU. Running 20 issues (with Trimpe drawing 19 of them), 1979's Shogun Warriors was based on an action figure line as was the artist's next assignment (after a 13-issue run on Marvel Team-Up), which garnered him a whole new generation of fans. In collaboration with writer Larry Hama, he launched G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, which proved a resounding if unexpected success. Although Trimpe drew only six of the 1982 title's first eight issues he remained firmly associated with the franchise, illustrating most issues of G.I. Joe Special Missions between 1986 and 1989 as well as 1987's GI. Joe and the Transformers​ four-parter. Marvel's 1996 bankruptcy prompted Trimpe to cut back, effectively to retire from comics. The co-creator of U.S. 1 [1983], among the artist's other noteworthy credits are Machine Man [1984] and Fantastic Four Unlimited [1993].

Latest Guest Announcement - Ray Park Attending: Fri/Sat/Sun Autograph/ Photo shoot Price: £25 G.I. Joe: Retaliation Snake Eyes Heroes (TV Series) Edgar Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace Darth Maul X-Men Toad

Latest Comic Guest Announcement - Gary Erskine Artist – Dan Dare; Dead Boy Detectives; Ultimate Comics Wolverine; G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero

Gary Erskine Writer/artist: Roller Grrrls Artist: Dan Dare, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Army@Love In 1988, after sending samples of his work to Marvel UK, Gary was given Knights of Pendragon to draw on a regular basis. Erskine then expanded his work into 2000 AD, drawing a Judge Dredd story written by Garth Ennis. For 2000 AD, he also drew Flesh written by Dan Abnett and Steve White, and for 2000 AD's sister title Crisis he illustrated The Real Robin Hood, written by Michael Cook, in 1991. Working with writer John Tomlinson he drew the Lords of Misrule graphic novel for Tundra in 1993. Erskine spent much of the 1990s doing guest artist work on various titles such as James Robinson's Firearm as well as a selection of Star Wars titles for Dark Horse. He also drew a mini series based upon The Terminator films for Malibu Comics. In 2000 Silencers finally printed by Image Comics as City of Silence, and the same year Gary inked Chris Weston on an issue of War Stories written by Garth Ennis, as well as drawing two issues of Hellblazer for Vertigo. He also stepped in at the last minute to complete Mark Millar's run of The Authority. In 2005, Erskine worked on Jack Cross, an ongoing series written by Warren Ellis for DC Comics, which unfortunately stalled after the first story arc of four issues. The rest of the year included digital painting of covers for X-Wing : Rogue Leader, a Star Wars mini series published by Dark Horse. November 2007 saw the release of Garth Ennis' Dan Dare, published by Virgin Comics, and included full artwork by Erskine.[3] The seven issue series saw the return of the classic British hero, previously published by 2000 AD and Eagle (in various interpretations) since the 1950s. Erskine has also contributed character designs and storyboards for television, commercials and games development working with various companies over the last eighteen years. He has also worked on licensed properties such as the DreamWorks characters including Shrek and Madagascar, and for Sony and occasionally freelances with the award winning Glasgow studio Axis Animation.