Armageddon '09: Comics Guests Update

Above: Batman as illustrated by Bill Sienkiewicz. Copyright DC Comics 2009.

Unfortunately due to pending work commitments, the previously announced DC Comics guests: Dan Didio, Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver will be unable to attend this years Armageddon Convention held in Auckland at the ASB Showgrounds (24th-26th of October).

But don't despair, some very decent comics guests have been quickly assembled to take their place, starting with legendary comics artist Bill Sienkiewicz!

Above: A cover from the series 'Electra: Assassin' by Bill Sienkiewicz. Copyright Marvel comics 2009.

Bill Sienkiewicz (pronounced sin-KEV-itch) took the comics world by storm in the eighties, with his evocative line art to his mixed media paintings. His two most revered works from this period would be his groundbreaking collaboration with Frank Miller, 'Electra Assassin', and 'Stray Toasters' which he wrote and illustrated. Both of which were published by Marvel's Epic Imprint and featured stunning fully painted mixed-media artwork which would set the standard of painted comics for the decades to follow.

He has produced artwork for film, videogames and advertising clients including: Rolling Stone, Warner Bros Pictures, MTV, Nike, Spin, Entertainment Weekly and many more. Despite been very much in demand in Hollywood, his passion for comics has never waned, and he has inked comics regularly his entire career with no signs of slowing down. His most recent assignment is providing covers for the mini-series 'Batman: The Widening Gyre', written by Kevin Smith.

Above: Batwoman by J.H. Williams III. Copyright DC Comics 2009.

Greg Rucka is currently one of DC Comics' most reliable and respected writers, having written defining runs on all three of DC's holy trinity: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

Rucka originally carved a career for himself as the fiction writer, with the successful 'Atticus Kodiak' crime/suspence novels. In 1999 he made the move into comics with the acclaimed series 'Whiteout' with artist Steve Lieber for Oni Press. 'Whiteout' was recently adapted into a movie starring Kate Beckinsale (which might be getting a late October release here, but is currently unconfirmed). His writing on 'Whiteout' got the attention of long-time Batman editor Dennis O'Neil, who gave him the writing assignment on 'Detective Comics' in 2000, and he's being working for DC on a regular basis ever since. He's also written across the street for Marvel, with controversial runs on both 'Wolverine' and 'Electra'.

Aside from bringing a gritty realism to superheroes, he's continued to produce independent comics more in line with his personal interests, including the espionage procedural thriller 'Queen & Country', and his forth-coming series 'Stumptown', a love letter to his favourite P.I. crime shows from the 80's.

Rucka is currently writing 'Action Comics' with artist Eddy Barrows and 'Detective Comics: Featuring Batwoman' with artist J.H. Williams III, with 'The Question' backup feature drawn by Cully Hamner.

Above: A cover from Peter David's run on 'The Incredible Hulk'. Copyright Marvel Comics 2009.

To call writer Peter David prolific would be something of an understatement.

He started his career in Marvel's Sales & Marketing Department before graduating to full-time writer with his award-winning 12 year run on 'The Incredible Hulk'. Since then he's written hundereds of comics for both Marvel and DC Comics including: Aquaman, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Fallen Angel, Supergirl, Young Justice, Soulsearchers and Company, X-Factor, Star Trek, Wolverine, The Phantom, Sachs & Violens, The Dark Tower and many more.

He's also infamous for killing off long-time Spider-man supporting character Jean De Wolff and cutting off Aquaman's hand and replacing it with a harpoon! (a change which stuck with the character for almost a decade).

Aside from writing comics, he's also well known for his outspoken views on the industry, related in his opinion column: “But I Digress...,” which has been running in 'The Comic Buyers’s Guide' for nearly a decade.

If all this wasn't enough to keep him busy, David is also a New York Times bestselling novelist and screenwriter. He has written over fifty novels, including novels for the Babylon 5 and Star Trek novel franchises, co-creating the Star Trek: New Frontier series for Pocket Books. As a screenwriter he has written the film sequels 'Trancers 4 & 5', and for television he's written episodes of 'Space Cases' , 'Babylon 5' and the sequel series 'Crusade'.

Above: 'The Doom Pertol' by Matthew Clark. Copyright DC Comics 2009.

Matthew Clark broke into the industry as an assistant, pencilling and inking backgrounds before he got his first assignment, a fill-in sequence for an issue of 'Wonder Woman'.

Since then he's gone on to illustrate many titles for DC Comics including: 'The Outsiders', 'The Adventures Of Superman', 'Teen Titans', 'Superman/Batman', 'Final Crisis: Submit' and 'The Question: Five Books of Blood' with writer Greg Rucka. He is currently drawing 'Doom Petrol', written by Keith Giffen.

Above: 'The Secret Six' by Nicola Scott. Copyright DC Comics 2009.

Oh, and the lovely Nicola Scott, artist of 'The Secret Six' is still reliable and attending!

So that's the new line-up, adjust you're buying habits and hunt down their books for those signatures! For more updates on the Armageddon comics guests (and the NZ comics guests of coarse!) I'll keep you posted, and you can always check out the Armageddon Expo website.

-AK!