Patrick Dean

Author H.P. Lovecraft's stories of ancient terror gods that drive people insane upon seeing them and cruel fate making life difficult for people aren't exactly laugh riots, but cartoonist Patrick Dean has managed to find some macabre humor in the horror writer's work.

Believe it or not, Con Season is almost upon us once again, which means that everyone in the world of comics is gearing up. For a lot of people, that means putting the finishing touches on their awesome and elaborate costumes, but what about those of us who want the fun and excitement of cosplaying, but lack the talent and dedication to really pull it off? Are we to be stuck in t-shirts and jeans

It must be exhausting to be a monster, what with everyone expecting you to be frightening and angry all the time. Patrick Dean, however, draws pictures of monsters in their more casual moments, taking seaside walks, enjoying a quiet smoke and romancing the ladies. His humans, on the other hand, are often entrenched in moments of crime and mystery.

  For the past few years, I've been taking a sketchbook to conventions across the country and getting pieces of art with a single theme: Characters created or co-created by the King of Comics, Jack Kirby. After 52 sketches, you'd think I'd be running out of characters, but with only a couple repeats, it's still going strong. Today, in honor of Kirby's 96th birthday, I'm putting all the sketches in

I'm not much of an original art collector, but getting a sketch from an awesome artist is one of my favorite things to do at a convention. For someone who can't draw at all, watching artists at work is like seeing actual magic happen, and at the end of it, you have a picture of Batman. It's basically the best thing.