Legends Of Old And New Gathered As One In Artist Alley At Fan Expo Chicago 2025
The late, but eternally great artist Jack “King” Kirby once told newcomers of the comic book industry to “Just keep going no matter what. You’re in the game. You’re in the game.”
While such advice might be worth its weight in adamantium, it doesn’t exactly mean that every neophyte creator is going to hit it big in the world of comics, nor does it guarantee that they’ll be able to make an actual living from their work before it’s GAME OVER, and that’s assuming they have the talent to do so, but sometimes even that is not enough. There are people in life who achieve greatness through hard work, and perseverance while others are simply awarded it for their loyalty.
Luckily, that wasn’t the case for most of the creators lining the narrow aisles of Artist Alley at this year’s Fan Expo convention in the northwest Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. While it would have been nice to see legends from a higher echelon such as John Romita, Jr., Ed Brubaker, Todd McFarlane, Mike Mignola, or even local artist Alex Ross attend the three-day event, there were still plenty of big time players in the crowd.
They were kind enough to indulge Bounding Into Comics with a few moments of chat, and a snapshot of their tables without demanding that a purchase be made beforehand (unless their names are Michael Golden).
The first man accosted is known for his great run on the “Main Man” called LOBO, but Simon Bisley’s talent goes far beyond that homicidal, genocidal, cigar-chomping son-of-a-bastich from the planet Czarnia.
He also worked on X-Men Unlimited, ABC Warriors from 2000AD, Hellblazer for Vertigo, and The Terminator: The Enemy Within (1991–1992), but it doesn’t stop with comics. Bisley has designed album covers for Danzig, Annihilated, GWAR, and he even decorated the drumkit for John Dolmayan from System of a Down.
Then came an encounter with the familiar John Giang. This wasn’t the first time that the artist has crossed paths with Bounding, but it is the first time that he actually remembered who I was.
Giang is renowned for illustrating unforgettable covers for Spider-Man, Venom, Deadpool, Batman, Superman, Star Wars, Spawn, Transformers, The Last Ronin, TMNT, Something is Killing the Children, Department of Truth, and GI JOE.
He was also a concept artist for films like The Avengers, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Pacific Rim, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Star Trek, and the exceptionally awful Terminator Salvation.
Along with being a really cool dude, Arthur Suydam has been kicking out the jams since the late 1970s with his unique style of painterly sequential art. He started his career with magazines Heavy Metal and National Lampoon before his way over to Marvel, and eternal glory.
Suydam has made a name for himself on such books like Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth, Black Panther, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Batman, Conan, Ghost Rider, Moon Knight, the underrated Batman vs. Predator, and then there’s his most famous contribution to the comic book medium, Marvel Zombies.
Just like Simon Bisley, Suydam has done artwork for album covers. Most notably for one of the greatest bands of all time (and Danzig’s former band), The Misfits.
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It’s not every day that someone finds a Ralph “Rags” Morales feeding in the wild, but luck has a way of rearing its random head when it’s least expected. This particular Morales started off on Valiant/Acclaim with titles such as Geomancer and Turok: Dinosaur Hunter.
Then he made his way over to DC to work on Nightwing, Wonder Woman, Action Comics (with Grant Morrison), Hawkman, and Blackest Night. Morales also teamed up with Brian Augustyn for a reboot of Golden Age favorite, Black Condor, in 1992.
Saving the best for last, Carl Potts has been a most treasured asset in the comic book world for over half a century for his work on Adventure Comics (for DC), Doctor Strange, Moon Knight (1983-1984), Venom, Prowler (1994-1995), The Punisher War Journal (1988-1990), and the “Heroes For Hire” duo of Power Man and Iron Fist (1982-1983).
Along with being a great artist, he has mentored up-and-coming talent throughout the decades such as Arthur Adams, Jon Bogdanove, June Brigman, Jim Lee, Mike Mignola, Mike Okamoto, William “Whilce” Portacio, Terry Shoemaker, Steve Skroce, Larry Stroman, Sal Velutto, Chris Warner, and Scott Williams.
Mr. Potts wrote the incredibly valuable book The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics: Inside the Art of Visual Storytelling, and he also gave an unnamed writer some very sage advice.
