Toronto Fan EXPO

Happening this weekend, August 22-24 at the Metro Convention center. I'll be there, along with all my RAID studio cronies. I'll be doing sketches and commissions (like the one pictured above) and I'll be sporting the usual array of goodies too - prints, original art, comics, and also some extra-special NYX mystery merchandise.

Come say hi.

Hadoken!

So, as you may or may not know, Street Fighter is 20 years old this year.

Yeah, I know, this fact sent me straight to the mirror looking for crow's feet too.

At any rate, to celebrate this momentous anniversary, and possibly stave off any uncomfortable self reflections it may dredge up, UDON, that notorious Toronto art collective is releasing a huge anthology art book of various artists' interpretations of the SF characters and their world. It's entitled Street Fighter Tribute and you can learn more about it here.

Why am I shilling for UDON and their book? Because I'm in it. See pic above. I was a total Street Fighter II fiend as a kid (although I pretty much sucked at it --no taste for blood, me) so I jumped at the chance to contribute, and decided to do a re-interpretation of the fight between Chun Li and Vega (or Balrog for the hardcore) as seen in the first SFII animated film, a sequence that's totally stayed with me over the *choke* years.

And yes, I do know that Chun Li doesn't actually hadoken, you nerds...

A note on the scarf...

So I received a letter from an NYX reader with an unusual question today. He was kind enough to let me post his email, along with my answer, which will hopefully serve to allay any similar concerns anyone out there may have.

The email:

Hello Kalman,

I just picked up the latest issue of NYX, in which you were the artist, and was a little concerned to see Kiden wearing a keffiyah, a show of solidarity with Palestinian terrorism. Was this your intention or is this a misunderstanding?

I look forward to hearing back from you
-Dan

And my response:

Hey Dan,

Thanks for picking up the book, and for writing.

There is absolutely no political agenda at work here. Whatever the keffiyah may mean to Palestinians, or to you, or to Israelis etc., it's undeniable that here in North America it has become a ubiquitous fashion item among urban teen hipsters. I'm not really able to speak for said hipsters, but I'm certain 99% of them are against terrorism of any kind, Palestinian or otherwise. As am I, for the record.

My decision to dress Kiden in this scarf, simply boils down to the fact that she is an urban teen hipster, and I made her fashion choices reflect her time and her subculture. It's pretty safe to say that if asked, Kiden would have no sympathy for terrorism in any form. Furthermore, she, like most urban teen hipsters, would probably be unaware and unconcerned with the issues of the Middle East, and probably equally unaware of the origins of, what to her and her peers, is an apolitical fashion accessory.

All the best,
-Kalman

And there you have it.

This is the day, this is the hour...

This is it kids! Out this Wednesday August 6th at your LCS (as the nerdvine calls it -- see how I did that?), NYX: No Way Home #1.

Pick it up, give it a flip, let me know how you like it.