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FREE COMIC BOOK DAY: Pulp Passion's Draw

Posted on: Sunday, 7 May 2006, 15:05 CDT

By Tim Rausch, The Lima News, Ohio

May 7--LIMA -- After four hours of drawing superhero sketches and signing his name, comic book artist Billy Dallas Patton needed a break to rest his hand and shoulder.

Dressed as Star Wars character Boba Fett, Brady Miller, of Wilmington, entertained the line of people waiting to see Patton and fellow artist Dan Davis inside Alter Ego Comics on North Elizabeth Street during Free Comic Book Day. Miller is a member of a volunteer group that specializes in dressing up for charity functions and conventions. "Most people enjoy seeing an authentic costume," Miller said through the microphone in his helmet. Casey Jones, 32, of Lima, however, attended the event to meet Patton. "For Zoom Suit, the guy's willing to sign his own comic. To me that's worth more than gold itself because that's something that can be passed down through your family," Jones said. Patton, who lives in Tiffin, has drawn for Marvel and DC. Zoom Suit is a new comic book project for Patton.

"I usually don't sit and draw four hours in a row," Patton said. He can work at home throughout the day, he explained, and sends in the work through flatbed scanner and email. "It used to be that you couldn't be in comic books unless you lived in New York."

What makes a good comic book artist is the ability to take art direction, Patton said. "It is a skill to be told what to draw and be able to draw it well."

Davis drew a two-minute Spider Man sketch for one attendee. Davis has previously worked on Harry Potter activity books and SpongeBob SquarePants cartoons.

Comic book store owner Marc Bowker said the attendance was better than expected, more than 500 when the day was done. Nearly 2,000 comic books shops across the world participated in Free Comic Book Day. About 20 different comics were free to eventgoers.

Jones, with a stack of comics in his hand, said his collection was as large as 1,500 comics at one point in his life. He has been collecting since age 10.

"Now I'm starting anew, getting some of the older ones that I've had before and others that I never knew they had made into comic books from actual book series, like DragonLance," Jones said.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Lima News, Ohio

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Source: The Lima News

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