What can I say about Eric Shanower that hasn't already been said much more eloquently by somebody else? Eric is a family friend, as both my husband and Eric were Oz fans and went to the same Oz convention annually back in the day. In fact, there are a number of people who still confuse the two, even though they look nothing alike. Hubby-Eric has been asked for autographs before by people who thought he was Eric Shanower. It was Eric Shanower who got Ramona Fradon's address for hubby-Eric when hubby wanted to surprise me with an original Fradon watercolor of Aquaman on Christmas. And Eric Shanower is also an Aquaman artist, as he inked Curt Swan's pencils on The Legend of Aquaman. One year at an Oz convention, Eric Shanower showed me an ashcan concept for a new series he wanted to do. It was about the Trojan war, and the art blew me away. I believe I said as much, and urged him to go forward with it. To my immense surprise and continuing delight, those words earned me a mention in the acknowledgements page of the first Age of Bronze collection. More recently, hubby-Eric and I stayed at Eric's apartment for the few days before San Diego. Oooh, we got to sleep in his studio! Eric's home is stuffed with reference books, and it was all I could do to not sit down and read everything. I did manage to read quite a bit in the couple of days we were there. In any case, Eric is not only a great artist, he's a great friend, and I'm proud to know him.
AQUAMAN
by Eric Shanower
21 July 2000
(permission to post given 17 August 2003 via e-mail)
http://ericshanower.com/
This sketch was my first sketch of the second day of San Diego 2000. I was under strict instructions to find Eric and say hello, so I hunted him down and found him in the small press area after first looking in the Image area. He wasn't busy, which was a shame because a guy like him should be surrounded by adoring fans asking for sketches. On the other hand, it did mean we had a little time to talk, and he was able to do this Aquaman sketch for me. Then I took some issues of Age of Bronze over to Ramona Fradon for him. Later, on the final day of the con, I escorted Nick Cardy out of the convention hall, and on the way I steered him to Eric's booth. I got to introduce Nick Cardy to Eric Shanower! An awful lot of my good comic book memories are related to Eric Shanower.
To see all the sketches I have permission to post so far, check out my Sketchbook Page. If you have any contact information for any of the other artists I'm trying to contact, please e-mail me.
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