NOVI– It is pop-culture art. Maybe the exhibitions are not everyone’s cup of tea but the Motor City Comic-Con, May 16-18, at the Novi Suburban Collection Showplace is definitely art. There will be special guest presenters and a variety of creative poster artists among the cartoonists. Saturday will be costume day for this, the 25th anniversary of the show. Guest judges will be Dan Phillips and Alloy Ash.
William Shatner of “Star Trek” celebrity will be the highlighted attraction. Shatner has a strong body of work in film and television including T.J. Hooker and Rescue 911. Films include The Brothers Karamazov (1958), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Kingdom of the Spiders (1977), The Kidnapping of the President (1980), Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon I (1993) and Miss Congeniality (2000) just to name a few. He also received two Golden Globe Awards for his performance on the long-running hit series Boston Legal.
Chris Claremont, John Barrowman along with famed wrestling personalities Brett Hart and ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan will also be special featured guests. Retro television personalities will include Richard Anderson, Katie Cassidy, Ernie Hudson, Kristanna Loken, Kent McCord, Lindsay Wagner, Billy Zabka and Burt Young of “Rocky” film fame.
One of the popular comic artists to be featured will be Michael Bocianowski of Erie, PA. Bocianowski has developed a mix of cartoon animals and dragon fantasy stories that are playful for both children and adults. His main animation character is a creature called ‘Yet’ who communicates with fantasy dragons and can only say “meep”. He trained at the Art Institute of Pittsburg and Edinboro University. Besides his comic characters, Bocianowski specializes in graphic novels, which run about 100 pages. www.artistmb.com
Another highlighted comic artist is Agnes Garbowska, who was born in Poland. Fueled by creativity and imagination along with a passion for comics, she went to work for the storied Marvel Comics Publishing Company. She currently has released a well-received illustrated book, “You, Me, and Zombie.” http://www.agnesgarbowska.com
Bill Sienkiewicz – born Boleslav Felix Robert Sienkiewicz – is descended from the Nobel Prize-winning Polish novelist Henryk Sienkiewicz. He grew up in rural New Jersey, taught himself anatomy to better his sketches and worked construction to put himself through the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts in Newark, New Jersey. He is acclaimed for his graphic novel Stray Toasters, which earned an international reputation and cult status across the industry.
He is also well known for his work on the revamping of Marvel Comic’s “Elektra.” http://www.billsienkiewiczart.com/
Other featured artists are Carolyn Nowak of Ann Arbor and Karl Slomski who trained at the Kubert School of Cartooning and Graphic Art. www.carolyncnowak.com and
www.slomotionart.net
Emily Zelasko is a Metro Detroit based comic book creator and quirky character artist. She has collaborated on the series “Jinx.”
Timothy Zulewski creates whimsical and spooky artwork that has been compared to Tim Burton and Edward Gorey. Zulewski has worked on children’s books, toy packaging, animation, and new media branding. He is well known in the sporting world for his contributions to the Fathead designs. http://www.cricketbow.com
Along with panels, seminars, and workshops with the comic book professionals, there will be previews of upcoming feature films, portfolio review sessions and debuts from video game companies. http://www.motorcitycomiccon.com/