The 2009 September Art Sale!

hey everyone!

well, the 2nd September Art Sale has officially started. . .
wahoooooooo!
:)

thank you for all the interest and contacts that everyone has sent. we've had a lot of interest in artwork, and we are glad to offer some very special pieces. we don't do this too often, so we hope that you take the time to visit all of the artwork auctions.
Also, please remember that 10% of every winning auction price of every single piece of artwork sold during the September Art Sale will be donated by the Astonish Factory to the TOYS FOR TOTS charity.

So don't delay!
Below, you can find links to all of the auctions to the Astonishfactoryexclusives . . .
take care and all the best,
m . . .



AUCTION 1 LINK . . .




AUCTION 2 LINK . . . .




AUCTION 3 LINK . . . .



AUCTION 4 LINK . . . .




AUCTION 5 LINK . . . .



AUCTION 6 LINK . . . .




AUCTION 7 LINK . . . .



AUCTION 8 LINK . . . .

All of these auctions are listed under our name . . . astonishfactoryexclusives.

Special Original Art Sales

hey everyone,

Okay . . . so, i don’t often sell original artwork.
Here and there at a show I’ll sell a piece or two, but it’s very special to me and it’s hard for me to part with. However, a couple years ago we did a special set of art auctions here at the Astonish Factory that we collected a portion of the proceeds and donated to the Toys for Tots Charity.
I thoroughly enjoyed that.
It was a great success and a good bit was donated to a very special and awesome cause. Considering that at the heart of Herobear and the Kid there is a magical toy that connects with a little child, we figured this was a perfect fit and great charity to support.
:)
well, it’s time to do it again.
So, starting in the next few days, we will be putting up a number of art pieces from Herobear and the Kid, The Land of Sokmunster, Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam and other fun artwork. We’ll post links here to all the auctions and keep everything updated.
The artwork will range from original pages, covers and rough sketches. Please take the time to check them all out. We hope that all the pieces find very good homes. Also, don’t forget that a portion of the proceeds from every sold piece of art will be helping to support the Toys for Tots charity and making a difference in children’s lives.

thanks and all the best in everything,
m . . .

Wolverine Sketch Card

hey everyone!

well, I had to add one more fun thing to the Hero Initiative Wolverine Project . . .

they had special Hero Sketch Cards too, so I did a “Mini-Wolverine.”
hope ya like.
:)

all the best,
m . . .

Wolverine!

hey everyone,

well i got to do something rrrrrreallllly fun . . .
i got to draw Wolverine!
the HERO INITIATIVE has done special one-of-a-kind covers over the last few years for their charity.
they started with the Spider-Man covers, then they did the Hulk, and now they are doing the Wolverine covers.
it's a very cool thing that they do with these covers . . . 100 artists are asked to do their own unique cover, and then the original piece is auctioned off and the money helps to support the HERO INITIATIVE . It is a non-profit organization, whose purpose is to help and support our seasoned, older comic book creators who have laid the groundwork for the industry we love. I feel extremely honored when they ask me to collaborate in these events. i had fun doing the Spider-Man cover and now I've been given a chance to do a Wolverine image.
i do hope you all like it. . .

again, i'm honored to be part of this, as they have asked some really amazing and talented artists to be part of this and i'm just very thankful to have my lil' sketch alongside theirs.
i'll keep you posted on what they do with all the covers and when they make them available.
take care and all the best,
mike . . .

my new "samples" blog

hey gang,

i created a lil blog(www.mikekunkel.blogspot.com/) to post some samples of my designs and work and such.

not a lot, just starting to add to it now.

it's kinda of a portfolio, but noooooooot really that official . . . it's more of a lazy online record of some of my stuff and way of sharing with people. i'll put up designs, storyboards, book illustrations, comics, sock puppets, wood carvings, cave drawings, birthday cake decorations, and even lawn and shrubbery sculptures . . . you know, the usual sorts of stuff.

;)

anyway, check it out and visit every once n' a while and i do hope you enjoy.

:)

take care and all the best,

mike . . .

Close-up Dr. Seuss table . . .

Too cool!!! This was at a gallery down from the convention . . .

Dr. Seuss table . . .

the Mooooooore's at SDCC 2009

me and good friend Robin Moore . . . the awesome, amazing and wonderful wife of Terry Moore, the creator of "Strangers in Paradise" and "Echo."

congrats to them both for getting "Echo" picked up as a movie deal!!

wahooooo!

all the best,

m . . .

More SDCC 2009 . . .

Me and David Petersen, creator of the brilliant "Mouse Guard" series. We were two of the 6 judges for the Eisner Award for Best Retailer. We all spent an entire day looking at submissions. Had a great time! Glad we could hang out.

Inside Convention . . . Marvel Booth . . .

Convention . . .

Comic con 2009!

San Diego Comic Con 2009

I'm down in sunny San Diego for a few days to see the convention and to be one of the judges for the "Best Retailer" Eisner Award. Should be lotsa fun . . . :) all the best, mike . . .

post from da phone . . .

'Nother test from the phone . . . Me and our bestest pup Max . . . My inspiration for a side project. ;) sorry such a dark pic.

Test post from my phone . . . Sunset the other night . . .

Free Comic Book Day 2009

hey everyone!

it's Free Comic Book Day this Saturday May 2!

if you are in Southern California , please visit Collector's Paradise at www.comicsandcards.net



i'm honored to be signing there with a bunch of great people.
it should be a lot of fun!
there will also be a bunch of items up for auction that will go to the benefit the Hero Initiative, so check them out on EBAY.
hope to see you there!
:)
all the best,
m . . .

_________________

What is Free Comic Book Day?

Free Comic Book Day is a single day - the first Saturday in May - when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely FREE* to anyone who comes into their stores. *Check with your local shop for their participation and rules.

My Lunchbags Art Blog

okay, i started the Lunchbags Blog a year or so ago. but, then life took over and it just sat there.
well, i just started putting up the art... finally.
wahoooooo!
for those friends that have known about it for a while, you can stop bugging me about sharing them and also about a book. ;)
i'm starting to put it together as a full book finally. and for those that i haven't shared this with, here's the description from the Lunchbags blog . . .



What are LUNCHBAGS?
Yes, you can remember them from school. But what other goodness do they bring?
:)

Wellllllll . . . over the last 4 years or so, with no other purpose in mind than to bring a smile to my kids each day, I started something fun.
My wife was a librarian/teacher's aide at their school . . . soooooo, trying to be helpful every morning, I’d get up and make breakfast and pack lunches and snacks for all of them to help get ’em all outta the house and to school on time.

Sure, i can help get other people to be on time, but myself?
Hah!
Never.

Anyway, i started to draw a little something every morning on my son and daughter’s bags. It was never anything specific. Just whatever sprang into my head the last five or ten minutes before they left. I hoped it would be something to brighten their mealtime a little. Well, after a while, they were telling me that the other kids in their classes kept looking forward to what would be on their bags. Even the teachers were looking forward to them.
Nothing like a little pressure, huh?
;)
Heck, soon friends would sleep over sometimes on school nights, and they’d request a “lunchbag drawering.” And every so often, i’d even sneak a monster or something silly on my wife’s bag to share in the teacher’s lounge.
Well, all this got us thinkin’. We figured, why not share these silly sketches with everyone else. So i started to take photographs of them. At the beginning of the day, and sometimes if they thought about bringing 'em home, even at the end of the day all crinkled and smooshed. And, here we are almost 3 grades later and i’m still scribblin’ on their bags.

Now other fun stuff is going on with our favorite lil' bags. Sooon a wonderful new book collecting them all will be on it's way, and also we have been invited to a couple art galleries to have a showing of the Lunchbags framed in beautiful box frames.
Crazy, huh?

In the meantime, here’s hoping that you enjoy my Lunchbag scribbles as much as I have enjoyed creating them.
It’s a very special thing to be able to do something fun for and with your kids, for no other reason than to encourage and uplift them.

take care and all the best,
mike . . . :)

Just testing my posting from my phone. Wahooo...it works! :}

where the silverstein begins

a very cool book.
very inspiring and very fun to read about a definite favorite of mine.
mr. shel silverstein. ("where the sidewalk ends", "giving tree", "falling up")
go check this out when you can and go have fun being creative.
:)

all the best,
m . . .

Crazy busy!

hey everyone,

sorry it's been forever since an update. i'm still living off the Steelers Superbowl win...

;)

anyway, very busy these days. plenty o' work... 'cause for the last 4 months or so, i've been working away full time at Disney all day and then at night til about 2-3 in the morning on Shazam. and i'm trying to finish a separate side personal project of another book...

but ALSO lotsa kid stuff.

my daughter is playing club soccer and that is kicking into full gear with tournaments and such.

she truly loves the game and she is so much fun to watch play.

and, i just got back from a trip to Washington DC with my son and his 8th grade class.

it was a "history class" trip starting in Virginia and ending in NYC.

an awesome trip to remember.

one of the highlights was seeing Arlington National Cemetary and the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

simply amazing.

of course, now it's back to work.

and the time snuck up on me and i meant to remind you all to not to forget to look for Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam #4 on APRIL 1st!

there are some sneek peeks over on the Magic of Shazam site.

enjoy!

well, enough babbling.

take care all of you and all the best in everything,

mike . . .

Whatta Game! :)

wow!
6!!!
'nuff said.
;)

STEELERS!

just a simple little shout o' WAHOOOOOOOOOO for the black and gold!

some of you may or may not know that i've been a diehard Steelers fan since i was a little kid.

surrrrre i'm a california boy, but i've always loved the Pittsburgh Steelers.

well, they fought a tough game yesterday against their HUGE rivals the baltimore ravens, and they were able to triumph and earn a trip to the upcoming Superbowl XLIII !! wow what a great game it was! so exciting!

wahoooooooooo!

:)

anyway, the ironic thing is that this weekend i will be going to Arizona as a guest of the Phoenix Comiccon and the Arizona Cardinals are going to the superbowl too, to play the Steelers. congrats to the Cardinals by the way. so i may not wear too much steelers stuff, but i'll certainly be proud 'o my team.

sooooooooooo looking forward to the Superbowl!

:)

take care and all the best,

mike . . .

Merry Christmas !

hey everyone,

i hope you all have a great Christmas and merry New Year!
:)
and, if you get a chance in the midst of your last minute shopping(i know i will be doing that) to visit your local comic store on Christmas Eve(since Wednesday is new comic day still ;) ) then don't forget to check out the latest issue of Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!
i hope you dig it.

and i also hope you had a goood '08 and find yourself heading to an absolutely amaaaazzzzzing '09!

take care and all the best,
mike . . .

Some fun Sketch cards

hey everyone,

so waaaay earlier this year i did some of the Marvel Masterpiece Sketch Cards. it was really fun to draw characters that i've never drawn before. anyway, i guess they are out now, so here are some of the images so you know what your looooooking for.
i really hope you like 'em.
and lemme know if you find any.
:)
enjoy!
take care and all the best,
mike . . .