Star Wars art by Jarreau Wimberly

https://www.artstation.com/artist/reau

This past Friday night, we had to say goodbye to @locustmooncomics’ beautiful shop.

A few weeks beforehand, Rafer Roberts (@plasticfarm) suggested the idea of making some kind of tribute comic as a surprise gift for the Locust Moon boys, with a riff on Goodnight Moon, and I don’t think he knew just how seriously I’d take that challenge. It was an immediate frenzy of sending emails, writing the book’s poem, calling in half a dozen favors… and this beautiful beast came together.

We’re not ones to say goodbye, so instead, we said “good night” to Josh and Chris’ magical store - where I spent so many days and nights meeting incredible creators, hung out with my favorite people, and was only a drunk stumble away from my front door - with the help of so many generous, fabulous people. We love you boys, so here’s to your next adventure!

Please enjoy Goodnight Locust Moon.

One million thanks to Farel Dalrymple, @jarreauwimberly, @cynwhy, Denis Kitchen, @weshoyot, @msgier, @andreatsurumi, Dean Haspiel, Bob Sikoryak, and everyone else who helped make this happen. ❤🌛 ❤

LMCF2015 Creators: Claremont, Wimberly, Kahn, Peters, Alu-Marr

Chris Claremont

Many of us who love comics as adults grew up addicted to X-Men comics written by writer Chris Claremont. The mutant pocket of the Marvel universe, and all the movies and cartoons based on it, are still largely defined by what Claremont did in his incredible 17-year run (1975-91).

Claremont was the mind behind classics in the X-Men tapestry like Days of Future Past, the Dark Phoenix saga, God Loves, Man Kills, and the original Wolverine series with Frank Miller, just to scratch the surface. With his writing, he almost single-handedly set a new standard for complexity and characterization in superhero comics. Working with artists John Byrne, Paul Smith, Marc Silvestri, Jim Lee, and other legends, he co-created beloved characters such as Kitty Pryde, Emma Frost, Mister Sinister, Gambit, Alpha Flight, Mystique, the New Mutants, Jubilee, Psylocke, Sabretooth, Cable, Magik, Rogue, and hundreds more, along with establishing backstories and voices for existing characters with which we still all associate today (Wolverine, Storm…and most others he wrote).

He also worked beyond the confines of his X-universe over the years, as writer of Marvel Team-Up, Fantastic Four, Ms. Marvel, a classic run on Iron Fist, and creator-owned series such as Sovereign Seven at DC Comics. His most recent comics work (between writing prose novels) was the Nightcrawler series at Marvel.

We’re honored to welcome Chris Claremont as a special guest at this year’s festival!

chrisclaremont.com

Jarreau Wimberly

Jarreau Wimberly is a freelance illustrator. The majority of his work is in the fantasy and sci-fi genres (Star Wars, World of Warcraft, A Game of Thrones, and Magic: The Gathering), and some of his more notable projects included doing the package art for the 25th anniversary G.I. Joe toys, character art for the G.I. Joe Battlegrounds video game, and illustration work used in the promotion of the second Hulk film. Jarreau is currently the artist for Seven Percent, a sci-fi action title published by Red5 Comics.

jarreauwimberly.com twitter tumblr: @jarreauwimberly

Ben Kahn

Ben Kahn is a comic book writer based out of Manhattan who made his debut with Locust Moon’s original graphic novel, Shaman.  Shaman is a kooky and colorful romp through the world of a sharp-tongued necromancer and his family.

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Awakening Comics: Steve Peters & Bianca Alu-Marr

Awakening Comics was founded by Steve Peters when he received a grant from the Xeric Foundation. Steve also created Everwinds for Amaze Ink/Slave Labor Graphics, and his multimedia project Chemistry won the Gene Day Memorial Prize. Awakening Comics, Everwinds, and his Sparky comics are all packed with jam comics with comics creators such as Sergio Aragones, Dave Sim, Moebius, Stan Sakai, David Mack, and many others. Currently, Steve and Bianca Alu-Marr are creating an award-winning comic called The Comicverse, a sci-fi rom-com about a comic book shop on a space station.

awakeningcomics.com twitter

See them at the LOCUST MOON COMICS FESTIVAL 2015 Saturday, October 31 – Halloween! 11 am – 6 pm @ The Rotunda 4014 Walnut Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 Website – Facebook – Event Page – Twitter

Thor Thursday - 01 by Jarreau Wimberly / @jarreauwimberly