worldsbestcomics

(thumbs u

(thumbs u

Signatures inside do not ruin the value of the signature. I think some signatures are better on the interior because they look like a scribble - I'm talking about you Chris Claremont

Sometimes they put a little Spider stamp on the back cover to show it was from the Spider's Web.

I copied this post from the Boston thread.

Post your Boston Crains

That Venom/Carnage piece is sick.

I stole this post from the C2E2 thread. Did anybody else get something done by Crain at the show?

I'm convinced this guy just has a amazing stack of HI blanks in a box at his house. It's okay if he gave them to you, I got a few Vampirella blanks from an artist not too long ago. I looked up my notes and it was ebay seller Boondock. He had some Hulks, Spideys and Weapon X blanks. I have a few with Clayton and a few Hulks still stashed away.

There was a dealer who got some left over blanks from HERO a while back and was auctioning them on eBay. I got a few for special opportunities.

This one is on its way to CGC...

It is posts like this that make this my favorite thread on the boards. Thank you tb for sharing these and yk for displaying them this way.

While I was visiting with Crain, I snuck a peek at some commissions he is doing for others and I saw some crazy good stuff: Deadpool, Storm, Spidey, Wolverine...It was sensory overload seeing so much amazing art at once. I saw sketch books, wood panels, canvas, a backer board. I don't know who he was doing them for but I hope they are boardies because you guys will be happy. Crain said he was going to post some on his website today so you might want to check it out. Crain commissions

I think the new Batman 61 cover stock is different from the Batman 18 cover stock. But, I don't think that will make a difference for his acrylics. He didn't mention any problems working on this cover. However, he takes so much time painting that I don't know if he can do a book at a show. You might need to mail it to him in advance and pick it up at the show.

I visited with Crain yesterday. He showed me a Batman commission he did for me.

(thumbs u

Don was at Emerald City ComiCon this past weekend so I had a chance to visit with him and talk Ducks. He did a great sketch for my son Robbie and signed/sketched my copy of Life and Times.

I saw Clayton working on several other books at the show. Some were for me I'll post them when they are finished.

Thanks, Troy. Here is backstory about this book. Clayton had never done Hulk for Marvel so he wasn't asked to do a book for the HERO Hulk 100 project. When I was at his booth at Emerald City three years ago, I was surprised to see a Hulk print he was selling. I thought it was really good and thought it was a shame that he didn't get to do a book for the Hulk HERO project. I spoke to Clayton about Hulk when we were brainstorming commission ideas a while back and he said that he had an idea for an amazing Hulk but he didn't say anything more than that. Some time after that, there was a dealer on eBay auctioning off some unused HERO 100 blanks that he had received from HERO. I remembered discussing Hulk with Clayton and asked him if he would be interested in doing a Hulk if I could get him a HERO blank. He got a gleam in his eye. Every time I have seen that gleam, he has done something incredible. So, I made sure that I won that auction! Here is the crazy thing. Clayton couldn't remember the amazing Hulk idea that he had hinted at to me years before. He still doesn't remember! So somewhere in the synapses of his unbelievable creative brain is a Hulk that is even better than this one ...and I have a blank waiting for the day that Clayton says, "Hey, I finally remembered my idea for Hulk. Do you want me to do it?"

Here is the book I picked up at Emerald City

Thank you Mad-Dogz for your kind and gracious words. I do feel fortunate to have this book. I've never told the complete story before but here it is. 5 years ago at Emerald City ComiCon, they were auctioning off 10 of the HERO 100 Spider-Man sketch covers. This was the first HERO project and sketch covers were a new thing. There were some amazing covers as part of that project but the one I wanted was Clayton Crain's. Clayton is a local guy, super-talented, who had recently started a mind-blowing run as the artist for Ghost Rider. I knew that he was at the show along with the book's artist, Mark Bagley, and writer, Brian Bendis. I thought his Spidey was really well done. Here it is. I mentioned to Steve Borock that I was going to bid on the Crain book and he said, "Forget it. You see that guy over there standing next to the HERO booth? His name is John Dolmayan, he's the drummer for System Of A Down. He was at the New York show and bought all the HERO books there and he came to this show to buy all the HERO books here. So, unless you're a millionaire, you're out of luck." Something clicked in my brain and instead of being disappointed and quitting, I walked over and stood right next to John. I kind of leaned into him and I said, "My son is six months old and he eats all the time. So do me a favor and let me win one of those books." John leaned back from me, gave me a look like I might be crazy and asked, "What did you just say?" So, I looked him right in the eye and repeated myself and he just smiled. We chatted for a while about my son and comics. He asked me which book I wanted and I said the Crain. John told me that he would lay off the Crain if I would lay off the book he wanted. Of course we both knew that he could get every book he wanted whether I bid or not. He didn't have to do a favor for someone he just met but John is a very cool guy. I won the auction for Clayton's book and then got it signed by Bendis and Bagley. I asked Clayton if he would be willing to do a commission on the back cover. He agreed if I was willing to do another donation to HERO and if I could be patient about getting it done. I actually did a survey on the boards about what I should get on the back cover and the winner was Ghost Rider riding off with Mary Jane leaving Spider-Man behind looking like, "What happened?" I dropped the book off for Clayton at his local comic store and emailed him what I wanted done. We traded emails off and on over the rest of the year but he was busy and we eventually agreed that he would bring the book to the next ECCC and I would get it from him there. Steve Borock was with me when we walked over to Clayton's table to pick up the book. Borock and I were both stunned when Clayton pulled it out and handed it to me. There had been some sketch covers colored before but nobody had painted anything like this. Clayton smiled at my obvious shock and said, "Well I had it for a year so I thought I had better do something extra nice." Before that day, Todd McFarlane was my favorite artist but Clayton Crain has been my favorite ever since. So, thank you, John Dolmayan if you read this and thank you, Clayton Crain. You earned the honor of the Best of the Best: Ghost Rider.

At 9.6 it was graded very liberally. Considering the pickle juice stains.

Should we do the challenge poll in a separate thread so people know it is not just additional posts in the original contest thread?

He is a really nice guy. Marvel kept him too busy to do much commission work but he's doing some now.