At New York Comic Con, I also got this quick head sketch from everyone’s favorite archer Hawkeye! It’s by Tom Raney, who is currently working on Marvel’s Avengers Academy.
I’ve been a big fan of many of his stuff over the years, so I was super happy to not only get the chance to talk comics with him but he was generous enough to get this sketch! Super fans of my blog will remember that he also is responsible for the first sketch I ever got at a convention!
One of the best things about going to comic book shows is getting sketches from artists. Not only do you wind up getting a unique piece of art, but its a great opportunity to talk with your favorite comic creators. I’m going to share the story of my first comic sketch, and how it wound up being Nightwing wearing Thor’s helmet.
I remember it like it was yesterday; it was Wizard World’s Philadelphia show in 2004. At the recommendation of a friend, I set out to get sketches. The first stop was Tom Raney who was signing and sketching at the DC booth. I was a fan of his then-current work on Outsiders, as well as his previous work on Thor.
As I waited online for a long time, I started wondering what sketch I would ask for. After all this was very important; it’s my first sketch. I decided that I wanted a Brother Blood sketch; after all he was a prominent villain in the first couple issues of Outsiders. Before I knew it, I was next in line and then things got weird. I’m going to write this out like a script so you can get the full effect.
Raney: (finished signing everything) So what would you like a sketch of?
Me: Brother Blood would be awesome.
Raney: Do you have a reference? Chris did those issues.
(Now I’m embarrassed, because I confused his issues with another artists. Eep)
Me: (mutters something intelligible and feeling really awkward) Ahh….could I get Nightwing wearing a Thor helmet?
Raney: Sure!
And then Tom crafted the above sketch, which is just flat out awesome! It was very nice of him to do something that was so ridiculous.
And that’s how I got my first comic sketch. You can see more of his work at his blog or his DeviantArt.
Ridiculously Awesome 