The Contributors: Pablo Marcos

Pablo Marcos was born in Chincha, Peru. He came to America in 1970 and has worked for many different companies over the last 40 years.

Clients include, Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Warren Magazine, Sports Illustrated for Kids, Soccer Jr. Magazine, Tampa Tribune, Heavy Metal Magazine, Frank Frazetta magazine, Dynamite Entertainment and others. 

Pablo currently works and lives in Colombia, South America, where he is developing his characters, Ramses, Suko, and a Machu Picchu series for Peru, his home country.

Pablo donated a pin up of his character, "Suko," for Fables for Japan, Book II

The Contributors: David Lloyd

Websites: www.lforlloyd.com and http://lforlloyd.deviantart.com/
Facebook: David-Lloyd

David Lloyd began his career in strip illustration after training in advertising art: “A perfect place to learn how to draw things to attract attention,” he says.

His work began to attract the most attention when he started drawing for Marvel Comics British division, co-creating one of their most popular characters, the crime fighting vigilante, Night Raven – who was the style-precursor of the character he’s most identified with, “V,” from the globally successful series, “V For Vendetta,” which he created in 1981 with the writer, Alan Moore.

Since then he has worked on a variety of stories and subjects for various publishers, including the “Hellblazer” series, “Aliens,” “Marlowe,” “Global Frequency,” “War Stories,” and his acclaimed crime graphic novel, “Kickback.” He’s also written and illustrated a book on the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Most of his recent work has been for European publishers, and includes a contribution to an “Asterix” tribute album, “Words of Stars” – a story in a collection of war memoirs, and his first limited-edition print, “The Prizefighter.”

A leading influence in the creation of the first full-time evening school of cartooning and comic art in Britain, he’s now returning to this area of work in helping to support an educational website – www.cartoonclassroom.co.uk.

David has provided the cover artwork for Fables for Japan, Book II. 

The Contributors: Khoa Le

Websites: http://moonywolf.deviantart.com and http://khoale.daportfolio.com

Khoa Le is a freelance illustrator, graphic designer, and painter living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She attended the Ho Chi Minh City University of Fine Art and is currently employed as the art editor at Kim Dong Publishing House.

Khoa submitted this piece for Fable for Japan, Book II, called “Spirits of Japan.”

The Contributors: Unnur Jònsdòttir

Website: http://unnurjonsd.blogspot.com/

Unnur Jònsdòttir is a 23-year-old art student, born in Reykjavík, Iceland. She is currently studying Computer Graphic art at The Animation Workshop in Viborg, Denmark. She is very interested in the video game industry and hopes to be working in that field in the future.

Unnur and Viktoria Piechowitz have put together a short children's tale called "The Little Scarecrow" for Book II of Fables for Japan. Here's a peak.

The Contributors: Joan Upton Hall

Website: http://www.JoanUptonHall.com.

For 28 years of the last millennium, Joan Upton Hall taught English while also editing and cartooning for a teacher newsletter that won national awards. Now a full-time freelance writer and editor, Joan instructs writing classes and speaks to anyone who will listen: civic organizations, book clubs, writers’ groups, libraries, you-name-it.

Joan’s manual, “Rx for Your Writing Ills,” has helped hundreds of writers. Several writer's newsletters carry her columns, “Demystifying Writers’ Demons,” and “Ask the Book Doctor.” Joan has contributed travel columns and a humor column to her county’s newspaper, and edited various newsletters. She has several published short stories in print from Roswell, New Mexico to Maine as well as in e-zines. Her articles have appeared in magazines as diverse as “Texas Highways” and “American Jails.”

Joan’s books run from historical nonfiction to the paranormal. Book three of her urban fantasy series “Excalibur Regained” will be released soon as well as her futuristic mystery debut, “Dream Shifters.” You can see the covers, read free samples, and get free handouts on the “Book” page of her website.

Joan Upton Hall has been involved with the project from the beginning. She has been co-editing Fables for Japan and has even found the time to write a short story for Book II called, "Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Heaven," illustrated by Todd Shulek. Here is a preview:

Here are some of Joan's books, available on Amazon.

  

The Contributors: Keith Grachow

Website: http://kgrachow.com/
Facebook: keith.grachow
Twitter: @kgrachow

An artist since a wee lad, I have been involved with art to some degree all my life. When I was 5, my father started an advertising agency, which introduced me to the world of graphics. Throughout college, I took various illustrative jobs and earned a BFA in graphic design. In the early 2000’s, I took my first career job as the in-house artist for a the toy company, Play Along Toys – the creator of the Britney Spears doll and licensed toys such as Care Bears. This is where I really cut my teeth and learned how to be a professional.

In the years since, I have rededicated my life to art, taking painting classes, traveling around the world, going back to school for illustration, as well as working in different artistic fields. In 2004, I taught school in Japan. A few years later, I returned to Toronto, only to go back to school once more. This time I focused on the sequential arts. After finishing school, I was offered the opportunity of a lifetime – to work on a Disney movie. At the animation company Yowza I learn how to digitally ink and paint on the Disney features, “The Princess and the Frog” and “Winnie the Pooh.”

Around this time, I opened my own studio in association with Studio Studios Photography and Video. I am co-owner and the creative director, handling designs for all of the marketing as well as the digital storybook albums.

Recently, I have been creating my own independent comic books and freelancing as an illustrator. “Bitb, Bot in the box,” was the first comic book I co-created and I am currently working with Mitch Cook and Howard Wong on “Old Dog Days.” I am also working on the art book, “Nerdpop” and providing posters and CD designs for the recording artist Lucas Macalastar.

In my spare time I have been donating art to worthy causes such as Japan relief aid and many other projects in different stages of development.

Cheers, 

Keith Grachow 

Keith has provided artwork for “The Rabbit in the Moon” with Mitch Cook and “Aneko in Oz” with Matt Funk. Here is a look at “Aneko in Oz.”

The Contributors: Christopher Golden

Website: www.christophergolden.com

Christopher Golden is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of novels for adults and teens, including “Of Saints and Shadows,” “The Boys Are Back in Town,” and “The Secret Journeys of Jack London,” co-authored with Tim Lebbon. His illustrated novel with Mike Mignola, “Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire,” was the launching pad for the Eisner-nominated comic book series, “Baltimore.”

Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His original novels have been published in more than fourteen languages in countries around the world.


Chris has donated an excerpt from his book, “The Waking: Spirits of the Noh,” – written under the pseudonym of Thomas Randall – with new illustrations by Gareth Sleightholme. Here’s a sample.

THE WAKING

Spirits of the Noh* 

by Thomas Randall

PROLOGUE

      Demons covered one entire wall of Yuuka Aritomo’s classroom.  At least, that was how other people would have seen her collection of Noh theater masks.  Some were monsters, some evil spirits, and others merely distorted representations of gods, crazy people, and fierce warriors.  Most of them were tragic figures, and many were hideous to behold, but Miss Aritomo thought them all quite beautiful.
     A shiver went through her, a sudden feeling of dread that spider-walked up the back of her neck.  She turned to stare at the shadowed corner of the room, troubled by the certainty that something had just darted out of view.  For a moment, it felt as though the masks were staring at her.
     Stop.  You’re frightening yourself.     Alone in the room, the school so quiet, it was easy to get spooked, but this was something more than nerves.  Something had made her uneasy.  Something had flitted through the shadows in her peripheral vision.
     No.  Stop.     “You’re a grown woman,” she said aloud, and the sound of her own voice comforted her.  She might be an adult, a teacher, but at heart she was still the little girl who had been afraid of her own shadow.
     It’s just the murders, she thought, and shivered.  Several students and one teacher had died on the campus of Monju-no-Chie school this past spring, and another girl had been drowned the previous fall.  They hadn’t all been murders, at least according to the police, but she could not help feeling claustrophobic there, alone in her classroom, with the echoes of those deaths—the cruelty, the malice, the evil—lingering in her mind...

*Excerpted from The Waking: Spirits of the Noh by Thomas Randall 

Copyright © 2011 by The Daring Greatly Corporation 

Published by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers

Read more in Fables for Japan, Book II coming soon!

The Contributors: Mike Dubisch

Website: www.dubisch.com
Facebook: MikeDubischArt
 
Mike Dubisch has been creating comics and fantasy art professionally since his mid-teens, carving out places for himself in the worlds of horror comics, gaming and illustration. He is known for his work on “Star Wars,” “Dungeons and Dragons,” and “The Boxcar Children,” as well as his personal explorations into H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos and his own graphic novel “Weirdling.”

He has worked as a colorist for Marvel comics and collaboration with Joseph Michael Linser on “The Vampire's Christmas.” Mike provided illustrations for IDW's “Required Reading Remixed” (aka “Classics Mutilated”) and the long running webcomic “The People That Melt in The Rain” with his wife Carolyn Watson Dubisch. 

Mike and Carolyn contributed the story, “In the Realm of the Sea Dragon.” Here’s another look at their work:

The Contributors: Carolyn Watson Dubisch

Carolyn Watson Dubisch is the author and illustrator of the children's comic series "The Horribles," the writer for the award winning comic series "The People That Melt in The Rain," and author/ illustrator for seven children's picture books. She's the San Diego Arts and Artisan reporter for the Examiner, and a show host for the popular radio show "Art of The Red River.”

Carolyn currently residing in the urban beach of San Diego with her three daughters and her husband, Mike Dubisch. As a fair skinned red head in perpetually sunny California, she has an ongoing search for the shady side of the street.

Carolyn and her husband Mike submitted their own version of the Urashima Taro tale called "In the Realm of the Sea Dragon." Here's a preview: 

The Contributors: Mitch Cook

I am so glad that evidence of my past comic book experience is buried in a municipal waste site somewhere in Washington State. It would be embarrassing indeed to have that cassette tape of me reading an old Fantastic Four book out loud come to attention. Yes, I read it out loud to a cassette tape recorder. Yes, I did all the voices; ALL the voices. Nope, not proud of that achievement. It was a good book though.

Something I am much more proud of occurred about the same time was struggling through Basic Skills Math in the 5th Grade. I wasn’t proud of my poor math skills, I was proud that my teacher enrolled me in the Creative Writing class. It was a class for advanced writing skills. Math was out but writing was definitely in my future.

Flash forward 30 years (yeah, it took 30 years to get to this point). After a public school education, Community College radio shifts, The Edward R Murrow School at Washington State University, a marriage, a graduate degree, a divorce, a marriage, and a TV job in Seattle, I finally returned to writing. I just never thought it would be for comic books.

The comic book format has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My brain has clearly been influenced by the pace of that form of storytelling. I never can tell a story to a group of people quickly. I MUST drag my captive audience from panel to panel, building suspense or irony, at my pace. I want my story digested slowly or quickly depending on how I want the listener to feel. I want the impact felt rather than just glossed over for rapid consumption. That’s a cheap way to talk. Don’t hurry or interrupt me, please. I’ll get the plane on the ground safely.

The comic book gives me the pleasure of directing a reader in the very same, deliberate way. I admit my manipulation. It’s a scam. I will rob you of your attention if only for a minute and I hope you don’t feel that I have cheated you. I want you to be a willing participant. Unlike the silly voices on the recordable tape, my wish is not to irritate but to fascinate. Pull up a chair and give me a moment.

Mitch R Cook

Seattle, Wa.

Mitch and Keith Grachow have done their own telling the "Rabbit in the Moon" tale for Fables for Japan, Book II. Here's a preview.

The Contributors: Kristine Angela Demetrio

Websites: http://estrangedart.blogspot.com/ and http://isnukwin.deviantart.com/


Kristine Angela Demetrio is a freelance artist who hails from the Southern Philippines. Born in a family of artists, her passion for art was nurtured at a very young age. In her youth, she entered several art competitions and participated in art exhibits. She provided illustrations for her high school publication and, in college, she contributed illustrations for an agricultural handbook.

In addition to her great interest in art, she has pursued a career as a theater actress for more than thirteen years and also has performed as a local television mainstay host. However, her love of art is still an essential part of her life and she continues with her self-taught, homegrown art style. 

Kristine is illustrating "The Stairway," written by Charles Whipple, for Book 2 of Fables for Japan. Here's a preview:

Interview with Bill Baker

The Morton Report

Jason Minor discusses Fables for Japan with Bill Baker on the Morton Report. 

Comics: Jason Minor on the Fables for Japan Benefit Books
With all of the human tragedy, economic problems and political turmoil—not to mention failed celebrity marriages—dominating our attention these days, it’s been far too easy to forget that the Japanese people are still in the early stages of recovering from the terrible earthquake and subsequent tsunami that occurred earlier this year.
Still, when faced with that scale of destruction and those incomprehensible numbers of dead, an individual can end up feeling powerless to aid in any meaningful or significant manner. [more]...

The Contributors: Claudio Cerri

Website: www.claudiocerri.con
 
Claudio Cerri is an Italian freelance illustrator and graphic designer. His work has appeared in several magazines, book, children books, and role-playing games.

Claudio provided the illustration for "Sha-Kee, The Golden Cat" By Patricia Morse-McNeely, appearing only in Fables for Japan, Book II.

The Contributors: Kourtis Charalampos & Vasia Glava

Kourtis Charalampos (Babisu) was born on November 18 1989 in Athens Greece. He is in the fifth year of his studies at the Fine Art School of Athens. He started working on comics at a young age and continues to peruse his dream of being a professional illustrator.

________________________________________________________________

Vasia Glava was born on March 1 1990 in Athens Greece. She is a graduate of the Early Childhood Education School in Athens and works as a pre-school teacher. It was her love of comics and children's literature that led to her becoming a teacher.

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For Book II, Vasia and Babisu have submitted a Japanese re-telling of the classic "Little Red Riding Hood" tale with a bit of a twist. Here's a sample.

The Contributors: Carlos Cara Álvarez

Websites: http://uvafx.blogspot.com/ and http://juanico-el-muertes.deviantart.com/


Carlos was born in Almería (Spain) 26 years ago, victim of a childhood plagued of fantasy comics and old illustration books he soon decided he wanted to be an artist. He went to Valencia (Spain) to study fine arts in San Carlos Faculty, but in the end he decided to study Paper Conservation in spite of painting. He managed to keep his drawing interests at bay for several years only to later pursue a career in fantasy illustration.

Mostly working in the digital medium he decided to train himself in traditional art skills like oil painting or etching.

In 2009 he won the “Diputación de Almería” comic-book contest and the “AVA International” comic-book contest too.

In 2010 he was second in “Murex” Illustration contest.

In 2011 one of his painting was exhibited at Gallery Provocateur in Chicago with many other artist like: Frank Frazzetta (his painting hero), Daren Bader or Nacho Molina.

Currently he is working as a concept artist and illustrator for several small indie game companies and making his own line of fantasy etchings

________________________________________________________________

Carlos nació en Almería (España) hace 26 años, víctima de una infancia plagada de cómics de fantasía y viejos libros de ilustraciones pronto decidió que quería ser artista. Fue a Valencia a estudiar Bellas Artes en la facultad de San Carlos, pero al final se decidió por la Restauración de Papel en vez de por la ilustración. Se las ha arreglado para mantener sus intereses dibujísticos aparcados durante varios años solo para acabar haciendo carrera en el campo de la ilustración de fantasía.

Mayormente trabaja en el ámbito digital, pero ha decidido mejorar en las técnicas tradicionales como el grabado o la pintura al óleo.

En el 2009 ganó los premios de cómic de la diputación de Almería y el “AVA international”.

En el 2010 quedó segundo en el concurso de ilustración Murex.

En el 2011 una de sus obras ha sido expuesta en la Galería Provocateur en Chicago junto a la de otros artistas como: Frank Frazetta (su héroe), Daren Bader o Nacho Molina.

Actualmente trabaja como concept artist e ilustrador para varias compañías de videojuegos independientes y esta desarrollando su línea de grabados de corte fantástico.

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Carlos had donate his painting for Book II of Fables for Japan

Fables for Japan at the Austin Comic Con

Jason Temujin Minor will be appearing at the Austin Comic Con on November 11, 12 and 13th. 


He'll be talking about Fables for Japan and showing a sneak preview of Book 2. He'll also have some original artwork from Book 1 and will be taking orders for book 1 and 2. So if you haven't bought your copy yet, this would be a great opportunity. 


If you are in town, come by and say hi. 


You can learn more about the Con here: Wizard World Comic Con
and read more about Jason here: Bio