Under the Tents 2023: Mari Lobo, Alex Pardee, Greg Capullo, Olivia De Berardinis

If you have spent the last several weeks thinking about, worrying about, tweeting about, paying for, and relentlessly checking your e-mail for confirmations of hotels…..you just might be a San Diego Comic-Con attendee. Hotels are usually the final, most complicated piece of the SDCC puzzle and now that (for most) it’s largely over with, it’s time to look towards the FUN STUFF. 

What’s fun? Well, I’m glad you asked! How about some commissions? SDCC exclusive comic book covers? Pin-up style sketch covers? I told you we had fun stuff.

Let’s take a look at the “fun stuff” you might have missed:

  • Illustrator and toy designer Mari Lobo was just as taken with the HBO series The Last of Us and well, the rest of us. She created this beautiful illustration that will be made into a print for Comic-Con.
 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Mari Lobo (@mari.sketch)

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Mari Lobo (@mari.sketch)

  • According to this tweet, Dan Veesenmeyer is just days away from opening up his San Diego Comic-Con commissions. If you haven’t already, now is a good time to bookmark our List of Open Commissions post, which is where we’ll have all the details when Dan announces them. 

  • In honor of AAPI Heritage Month in May, Patrick Ballesteros has created a few prints which he teased on Twitter, promising to save a few for SDCC too.

  • Our SDCC prep usually involves spreadsheets and more spreadsheets, but when you’re artist Chris Maze your prep looks a little different. Looks like prints are getting stamped with Maze’s very appropriate logo. We look forward to the day Maze flips those over for us.

  • Speaking of Chris Maze… if you want to see all the cool things that he will be releasing at Comic-Con be sure to sign up for his newsletter, Maze Musings. He’ll be providing sneak peeks there first.

  • Even the most wrenched hive of scum and villainy can help make a difference. Members of both the Republic and the Empire should make note that The Comic-Con Museum is hosting a May The 4th Blood Drive. From 10am – 4pm hydrated Jedi and Sith will receive free museum tickets by participating and also be entered to win tickets to the Blink-182 Reunion Concert on June 20. Schedule your appointment today!

  • Heidi over at Comicsbeat.com recently posted about a new comic book from Christopher Yost, prolific X-Men writer and co-creator of the X-23 character. Unnatural Order is an amalgam of sci-fi, fantasy, with a bit of dark humor as well. Issue #1 will release just ahead of San Diego Comic-Con and publisher Vault has said that events are in the works for the convention. It’s my sworn duty to mention that you can (and should) preorder this book from your local comic book shop (and maybe bring it with you just in case!)

  • How amazing has it been to see Paul Sun-Hyung Lee on The Mandalorian as Captain Carson Teva of the Adelphi Rangers? The Captain recently posted on Instagram some glamour shots of an upcoming 1:6 scale bust of his character by Gentle Giant. Lee mentioned that it would be a “Comic-Con” exclusive and even included “fingers crossed for SDCC,” to which we say “Yes, please!”
 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (@angryappa)

  • Every year artist Alex Pardee drops strange and delightful pieces of terrifying and enchanting artwork from his corner of the exhibit hall and 2023 will be no different. Pardee announced on Twitter that he will be unleashing “Dopplegangers 2: The New Batch” at the event. I honestly don’t know if I want to run towards his booth or away from it and I bet that would make Pardee very happy.

  • Legendary pin-up artist Olivia de Berardinis is busy at work on some original sketch covers, including this stunning trio of Catwomen, including Bettie Page and Barbie in Michele Pfeiffer’s iconic costume. The covers will be auctioned off during Comic-Con and on display at the Olivia/Tweeterhead shared booth in July.

  • Looks like someone has Power Rangers fever and that someone is Jin Yung Kim, also known as JYK All Day. Kim has been sketching up a storm and posting the works in progress over on Instagram.
  • This week comic fans were treated to the great news that master artist Greg Capullo (X-Force, Spawn, Batman) would be joining the 2000 AD universe with a variant cover for Judge Dredd: The Darkest Judge, a collection of the 2022 crossover event. IGN exclusively revealed Capullo’s variant cover, which will be sold at San Diego Comic-Con. There will be only 500 copies of this variant and only 300 will be sold at SDCC.

  • A quiet artist is a busy artist. I think someone important once said that. Maybe. Either way, it rings true for Priscilla Wilson who’s “To-Do” list is almost as long as the line to buy her items. Don’t adjust your screens, it’s blurred on purpose, but even so, we can see there is a LOT to look forward to. 

  • And one of those blurred-out mysteries is no longer quite so mysterious! Priscilla gave a sneak peek at a work in progress, which appears to be a piece of Soonay sailing past the Convention Center in the bay. Yes, we’re a fan (and it may be too!)

  • Critical Entertainment’s Mason Mendoza released some images from the forthcoming book, Life Is An Open Door, featuring watercolors by artist Alonso Molina. We love the looks of these anthropomorphic pooches and can’t wait to see more at San Diego Comic-Con.
 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Mason Mendoza (@masoncriticalentertainment)

  • And finally today, we leave you with the sweetest little commissions this side of the galaxy, from artist Nan Hockin, who you can commission for your very own work of adorable art. Order now and pick up at Nan’s Artist Alley table in July.

Anything we missed? Let us know in the comments, drop us a line, or tweet us at @SD_Comic_Con.

If you missed our previous Under the Tents 2023 posts, you can find them HERE.

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