JLA #50 Cover

Hey everyone!
wow, it's been a looooooooooooong time since i've put some new stuff up here.
not that i haven't been doing new stuff, of course, it's just been a busy, busy bit o' time.

anyway, here's another something i did recently for the good ol' Hero Initiative . . .

it's a cover for the JLA #50 special covers . . .
here's the front . . .

and here's the back . . .

hope you all like it.
:)
i had a great time doing this particular cover.
it was fun to go very cartoony with it.


okay, and just so you don't think i fell off the planet, i'll have some updates on a bunch of new stuff very soooooooooon!
hope everything is good with you all.

take care and all the best always,
m . . .

Archie Comics Cover

hey everyone,

here's another auction for charity.
this time it is for the Hero Initiative.
please go check out all the very cool artists involved and if you can, be a help to a very great cause.

here's a link to my cover now up for bid. . .

Mike Kunkel Archie Comics cover

hope ya all like it. it was great fun to do.
take care and all the best,
m. . .

Charity Artwork Auction

hey gang,

just a quick note to let you know that there's a day or so left on a piece of my artwork up for auction that is benefiting the children's charity . . . www.protect.org .
the auction is put together by the very cool Sphinx Group and they've got a number of talented artists helping out. i'm glad to be included with all of them.

so, if ya get a chance please go check it out here . . . :)
Herobear Drawing in pencil and ink


take care and all the best,
m . . .

New Astonish Factory Website

hey everyone,

just wanted to let you know that we re-designed the ol' Astonish Factory website.
wahooooo!
:)
you can find it here . . . The Astonish Factory . . . www.theastonishfactory.com

it has lotsa new stuff on it and captures more of a feel we' d like the factory to have.
hope you all like it and enjoy visiting.
this is the start of more new stuff coming soon.
:)
enjoy and all the best,
m . . .

Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam TP

hey all,

just wanted to let you know that DC Comics released the trade paperback collection of the Captain Marvel book that i did for them.

it's a really nice little collection of my issues with some sketch pages in the back and also along with a couple different stories by the other team that took over the series.

i was honored to have been able to have so much fun with a character i've loved since i was a kid and be able to launch a brand new series for DC. so if you're lookin' for something fun to read and share with friends and family please do check it out on Amazon . . .

Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam TP

:)

hope you enjoy it.

all the best,

m . . .

Disney's Kick Buttowski

hey everyone,

well, the Disney show i storyboarded on all last year is finally getting ready to have its premier. . . .huh, i didn't even mean to rhyme that. ;)

DISNEY'S KICK BUTTOWSKI!!!!

also, here's a link to a really fun promo that Disney put together, KICK BUTTOWSKI trailer promo. the series is premiering FEBRUARY 13, 2010 at 9:00am on Disney XD. please check it out and i do hope you enjoy it. there were a ton of talented people that worked on this project. it was created by Sandro Corsaro and was directed and guided and fearlessly led by Chris Savino. Disney is really getting behind the series. they are even offering the first half hour for FREE on ITUNES! how cool is that. :)
you can check it out here . . .



anyway, i'm really proud of it and hope you all enjoy it. please check it out and don't forget to tune in on February 13, 2010.

take care and all the best,
mike . . .

Hero Initiative Auction and other fun stuff

hey everyone,

hope you are all having a great Christmas season and enjoying all the Holiday spirit possible.
:)
i just wanted to point you toward some recent fun stuff . ..
first off, the very cool Hero Initiative folks are auctioning my WOLVERINE cover that i did. so hurry on over and check it out. And if you can, go help out a great cause.

Here's the link . . .


mike kunkel WOLVERINE COVER

ALSO . . .

i recently did a cover for a friends new book that was coming out. It's entitled "SCRATCH9". here's a little write up on it to enjoy . . .

ComicBookResources

more stuff coming soon.

anyway, Happy Christmas and Merry New Year to you all.

all the best,

m . . .

Sooo Bored ;)

hey everyone . . .

Okaaaay . . . So I saw this pup in the parking lot. His expression of boredom was so exaggerated, it cracked me up.
it was early morning, and the windows were all open, so he was getting losta fresh air . . .
But I'm betting he would rather have been anywhere else but there. :)

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

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.
;)