NEW BLOG!

hey everyone!

wow, it's been a while since i've been on the blog.
well, we have a brand new website and a brand new blog over at the ol' Astonish Factory!
and here's the link . . .

NEW Astonish Factory Blog

Thank you all for visiting!

all the best in everything,
mike . . .

Facebook Pages and update news!

i know it's been forever since i've updated this blog, so to start it back up again, here are links to the new Facebook pages for the Astonish Factory and Herobear . . .

The Astonish Factory on FACEBOOK

Official Herobear and the Kid on FACEBOOK

here at these sites you'll find info on the new Herobear and the Kid series that i'm re-launching with BOOM! Comics!
there will be a special new 6-page story in the FCBD of Boom! Comics  . . . AND there will be a new one-shot Herobear and the Kid special coming out in June of this year!
so check 'em out with your comic shop and thank you all for visiting this lil' blog!
:)
more info sooon!

take care and all the best,
mike . . .

Marvel's Avengers

The Avengers are here!
i sooooo loved this movie soooooo much.
made me feel like a kid again!
so much fun.
got me inspired to draw a reeeeeally quick fun scribble of the team.
enjoy!
:)
all the best,
mike . . .

Jason Lethcoe's Snodgrass and Sharpe Comic Strip

my friend Jason Lethcoe has a very cool new comic strip based on his hit novel series "No Place Like Holmes."

the strip is called "The Adventures of Snodgrass and Sharpe" . . .

here the links . . .

FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/jason.lethcoe

WEBSITE
http://www.jasonlethcoe.com/

enjoy!
:)
m . . .

KING ME comic strip

hey everyone,

just wanted to share the link to a brand new project called KING ME . . .
it is a comic strip i'm doing. hope you all like.
:)

http://www.kingmecartoons.com/

enjoy and all the best to you,
m . . .

Super Amazing Dynamite Joe!

Sooooo . . . you mix a camera phone, snacks, kids, video games, a dinosaur, aaaand a super amazing . . . peanut . . . 
and this is what you get. . . 


something NEW from the 'ol Astonish Factory . . . DYNAMITE JOE! 


Dynamite Joe's Super Amazing Blog! 


ENJOY the silliness!


all the best,
mike . . . 

Herobear and the kid Sundays

Since Christmas 2011 landed on a Sunday this year, and you've all been good lil' girls and boys . . . here is one more Christmas gift . . . the very first Herobear and the Kid SundayTown Chronicle . . . braaaaaand new.  More to come sooooon . . .


all the best always,
mike . . .

Christmastime Herobear

Christmastime is a reminder to us all to embrace a little more, care a little more, and love a little more. 

On a Christmas long ago, Tyler’s grandfather, Santa Claus, first created Herobear as a special gift he knew would be perfect for his grandson one day.   Santa shared the magical toy with all of the elves at the Factory and immediately they found themselves in awe of the little creation, embracing and connecting with the heart and soul that had been poured into it. 

It so happened that every year, Santa would bless the elves with a gift to thank them for all of their hard work.  So, in honor of his most special creation that Christmas, Santa spent an extra moonlit night at his workbench and crafted a unique memento.   With a twinkle in his eye, he gave a little more and cared a little more as he carved each of the elves a special, wooden Herobear sculpture as their Christmas gift of the year.

What you see here is one of those unique Herobears that has traveled all the way from the heart of the North Pole Factory. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.
All the very best,
m . . .

Herobear lunch sketches

sooooo, i found an extra pen and Herobear found his way onto some extra paper towels after lunch.  fun to draw on other materials and non-regular sketch/copy paper . . .
:)

take care and all the best in everything,
m . . .

Herobear

Just some phone post-it scribbles . . .
:)

all the best,
m . . .

Astonish Factory Facebook page

Official Astonish Factory Facebook Page

hey gang,

just wanted to point you toward the Official Astonish Factory Facebook Page.
click the link HERE( the Astonish Factory Facebook Page) or on the side of the blog page on the left . . .

Enjoy!
:)

all the best,
mike . . .

More Herobear sketchin'

hey all,

tried something different with my sketchin' of Herobear. 

found a fun and easy screen recording program.

enjoy! 

:)

all the best,

m . . . 

Sketchin' Herobear

just had a little time at lunch . . .  and as i often do . . . found myself sketching a familiar friend . . .

:)
m . . .

Disney's "Where's My Water?"

I recently got to work with Disney to help them develop/design their brand new original iPhone app "Where's My Water?"
what a GREAT time i had doing it.
working with Tim the creator and Valerie and Joe and the whole team was really awesome. they are all super talented.

here's a little sneak to some of my designs being used for Swampy and his world  . . .

anyway, i hope you guys like the game. it's really very fun. 

:)

all the best in everything,

m . . . 

Hey everyone!

hey all!

wow, it's been a while since i've posted.
(i wonder how many blog posts start that way? maybe that's a blog post in itself. ;) )
;)

anyway, i just wanted to say hi and let you know that i'm still here being busy, busy, busy with regular life, family, working for the studios, and drawing and writing away on new projects.
hope you all have been well and life has been good to you.

i'm hoping to keep updating pretty regularly and i've got a TON of new stuff to start sharing, so to start off, here's a fun project that came out alittle while ago that i got to be part of...
ARCHIE BABIES . . .

cover

sample page

sample page

 i wrote 4 of the 5 stories and helped develop this BRAND NEW little kid graphic novel for Archie Comics.
it's sweet and nice and fun for little kids, and i'm really proud to have had the chance to create in the Archie Universe. i had a great time working on it, and the artist , Art Mawhinney, did a great job with the stories.

anyway, check it out and i hope you enjoy it.

take care and all the best in everything,
m . . .

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 . . .