Marvin Law @ Fanexpo 2011

Spent PENCILS @ Toronto comicon!

How will you spend your last three days of March break. 
Hey, how about coming down and seeing a few of your Buffy the Vampire Slayer stars, or perhaps Star Wars. Or more importantly, get some cool sketches from the boys of Spent Pencils....and while you are waiting, get some picture taken with our Spent Fatale gals..:)

FAN EXPO WEEK - My interview with Comic book artist Marvin Law!

Being good friends with the SPENT PENCILS crew has it advantages, like meeting other great artists. I kept seeing Marvins work at conventions and his table was always super busy. I never really had the chance to talk with him until I read that he was going to be at Silver Snail doing what he does best. I ventured into the city on a wee bit of a tight schedule but made sure I stopped by to say hello and admire his work.

I plan to do the same this weekend and so should you, Marvin’s work is some of the best and he is a pleasure to talk to…

Keef- When did you discover your artistic talent, and what made you pursue comics?

Marvin-I discovered my artistic talent at the young age of 6, when my cousins showed me, my first comic books. After that, all I ever wanted to do was draw and tell my very own stories for people to enjoy.

As for what made me pursue comics, it's the freedom to tell whatever stories you want to tell. Whether it's a personal story of love and loss, or a billion dollar epic action/sci-fi/fantasy extravaganza, and both just need a pencil, paper and my imagination.

Keef- what were some of the comics at that age that really caught you eye?

Marvin-I still have the first comic book, I ever bought, which was Justice League America#193, which had George Perez on art, so that explains my love of detail in my work, lol.

Thanks to my cousins, I was exposed to a lot of great comic books, I wouldn't have seen otherwise due to my age, like Dark Knight Returns, the Watchmen, the Chris Claremont & John Byrne's legendary run on the Uncanny X-Men, New Teen Titans, Crisis of the Infinite Earths, the Punisher mini-series, the Nam, Frank Miller's Daredevil run and many other great comic books from that era.

Keef-- What inspired you, and today what inspires you?

Marvin- What inspired me, and what continues to inspire me, is to see the interaction between a great story and great artwork, thus creating an awesome comic book experience. This is what inspires me and my work, to try and accomplish that each and every time.

Keef- What has been your greatest accomplishment in comic books, and what is a future goal that you have with in this industry?

Marvin- I personally feel that my greatest accomplishment, so far in comic books has been to earn the respect of fellow professionals and peers. It's always nice to hear ask, "why the heck aren't you on a book for one of the big two yet?"

As for what, my future goal in the comic book industry might sound arrogant, but I want fans to remember me, as one of the greatest artists of all time. And to do that, I've gotta push my skills and talents to the very edge and beyond, in order to achieve it in the future.

Keef- If you had a chance to breath life into a dead franchise in the form of a comic what would you choose.

Marvin -Hmmmm some franchises I'd love to breath life into, would include things like I would love to do a Darkseid book, Iron Fist, Dr. Strange, a super villains team up with either the Joker or Dr. Doom, or Captain Canuck. At this point, I'd be happy to get any sort of book, lol.

Keef-Tell us about some of your projects your working on.

Marvin - Currently, I have a weekly webcomic called, SLAM, which you can check out at http://slamcomic.squarespace.com/ .

I'm also prepping a fantasy/action/comedy series called, Cloudwalkers with a great writer, Kristopher Feric, which is one of personal favourite projects that's been sitting on the backburner.

Keef- what are you looking forward to most at fan expo?

Marvin -To be honest, I'm excited to see the fans again, draw sketches for them, see how they react to my newest set of prints, and seeing old friends, I haven't seen all year long.

Keef- Cool man, any Thank-yous, shout outs and last words?

Marvin ...

Thank Yous:

I want to thank my cousins for first exposing me to comic books, my family for their unending support, the many other artists that lent their knowledge and support, and ultimately to the fans for their support, because without them, none of this would be possible.

Shout Outs:

I just wanted to give a shout out to my buddies at Spent Pencil Studios, to the crew at the Silver Snail, the boys at Multiverse 5, the boys at the Drink & Draw, the fans & readers of the SLAM Webcomic.

Last Words:

Whether I make it into the Big Two or not, it won't deter me from continuing my career in comic books. I've got tons of ideas for projects and lots of stories to tell, as it is. My goal in life is to entertain readers, in a variety of genres in comic books, because this is the media I love.

FANEXPO WEEK - My interview with Arnold Trinidad of "Spent Pencils" Comics

I met Arnold threw A good friend of mine Vince Sunico who is also involved with Spent Pencils.

The one thing I liked about these guys besides the incredible work they do before, during and after the show is the heart they put into there work and how much they appreciate there fans.

I can honestly say that because I know them personally, they love the fans.

So for all you comic book fans, be sure to stop by the SPENT PENCILS booth during the fanexpo and tell them "KEEF" sent you!!

Keef- Hey Arn, introduce us to the "SPENT PENCILS" team!

Arnold -Spent Pencils current artist rosters include, myself, Vince Sunico, Paul Limgenco, Gerard Dela Costa, Briana Chan, Khan Nguyen, Eric Ruiz and Nyck Cruz. We have an up and coming artist that accompanies us at some shows, who also double as our salesperson, Neo. Our other helpers include D-Tone and Reiven. The latter two helps Neo at our big shows.

Keef- How and when did spent pencils become what it is today. And for those who have never heard of SPENT PENCILS... explain.

Arnold - For those who have never heard of Spent Pencils, it is currently managed by myself and a fellow friend and illustrator Vince Sunico. It’s a place where young artists are given the opportunity to showcase their artwork if they want to pursue a career in the creative field.We accomplish this by inviting them to art specific events, such as comic conventions, and house some of their work on our website.Spent Pencils was started back in 2007. It was originally formed as an art club that comprised of mostly close friends. It was also called something else….but that’s another story. It wasn’t until that same year when I ventured into my first artist alley (Fan Expo Canada) and was introduced to Vince Sunico that I realized that this could be taken to another level. After getting to know Vince we found we shared a common interest in mostly anything that’s comic book related. We also understood how hard it was, during our younger years, to find someone or some place that provide support and guidance to assist us find our dream art career.

We are not going to profess to be subject matter experts, but together we decided to take on the challenge of building Spent Pencils and see where this journey will take us. It wasn’t easy. We went through trials and errors building Spent Pencils to where it’s at today. Add to the fact that we also juggle our full time job…which sadly is not comics related. After three years tour of duty doing conventions and shows, we are finally getting comfortable.

We try to make it as simple as possible for anyone interested in being part of Spent Pencils. Vince and I will deal with the organization and administrative stuff, all we ask the members is to be committed and productive. There is no contract involve. If a crew is picked up by a potential employer, we've done our job.

Keef - What is your individual roll in SPENT PENCILS?

Arnold -I take on the administrative stuff when booking upcoming convention shows as well as maintain the website. I’m also the communications person, addressing any news or issues Spent Pencils may have.Vince deals with the financial stuff (I suck at math) and talent recruitment.Together, we handle the creative decisions for the promotional stuff. We equally share the expenses needed to keep the SP ship afloat. When it comes to PR, it’s who feels comfortable at the moment.And after all said and done, we still do our best to manage and be productive with what we love to do best…..Draw!!.

Keef - What got you into art, and what turned you on to comics?

Arnold -Wow, “what got me into art?”…looking deep inside, it was a family gift. As far as I know, my mom, dad and aunts are creative people. It was almost like I had no choice but to like it and get into it…ha-ha-ha. Seriously though, being exposed to those Saturday morning cartoons definitely influenced me….and it was an easy path to follow Superman cartoons to comic books. From the latter, all the cards just fell in to place.

Keef -If you could acquire 3 franchises that have died off, and turn them into successful comic books... what would you pick.

Arnold-Ooh, an imaginary opportunity…well, let me see….Top of my head, my three choices would be, Silverhawks, Five Deadly Venoms, and Dungeons and Dragons cartoons, the one where each kids were given special weapons to survive the fantasy world.

Truth be told, Silverhawk is my second choice, next to Thundercats. Five Deadly Venoms would have been cool to update and expand the story through the comic book medium. As a fan of action movie, this could have just as much potential to be brought to the big screen as Mortal Kombat. I would cater Dungeons and Dragons to the younger crowds. The world of D & D could be a place to teach moral lessons.

Keef- I have seen you guys in action several times, you guys are machines when it comes down to drawing people’s requests. What is the most fun to draw for you, and have you ever had a strange request that you may have had to turn down?

Arnold- I’m a DC fan, so mostly any characters from that company. I’ll admit, I still think my weakness is drawing women, so it takes me longer drawing Wonder Woman or Supergirl.

As far as strange requests, I’ve done a few that I didn’t necessarily need to turn down. They were innocent enough. What I will turn down is any obscene requests. Pass that down to another artist, let alone another studio please.

Keef- What are you looking forward to fanexpo most?

Arnold -What I look forward to fanexpo is obviously seeing the fan. Having only three years of attendance in this event under our belt, it is awesome to see that we’ve developed a small following. Second to that, enjoying the camaraderie Spent Pencils developed with some of the other artists on the floor. First day of the show, we see all these other artists, greet them and wish each other luck for the upcoming long hours we will all face. The end of the show, we reflect on all the craziness we experience and look forward to the next event.

Keef- Where can we find spent pencil comics/art work for sale?

Arnold- At the moment, Vince Sunico’s artwork can be found at Stadium Comics in Brampton, Ontario. These guys has been supporting Vince for a while now as well as many other local artists. Silver Snail Comics store in Toronto, Ontario also carries a couple of Paul’s originals for sale. These guys has been around since I can remember, and man, I can’t say enough positive thing about how supportive they are with independent artists.

Thanks Arnold!!

I willbe posting thier location so you may visit their booth at fanexpo!

Here is a lil promo video for the event... I dont like to toot my own horn by I made those funky beats!

Links!

SPENT PENCILS

STADIUM COMICS

FANEXPO

Good Luck Arnold, you guys always do a great job every year!!