It’s no secret that I’m a fangirl. I was one of the two females in my year to take a graphic novel class, which was really a fanboy club because our teacher happened to be Walt Simonson, who did all sorts of work for Marvel and DC Comics. On the first day of class we brought in posters and comic books for him to sign. He turned out to be a really terrific guy too…and best of all, he brought round a bunch of his writer/comic book artist friends all year long to hang out with us, including a field trip to John Byrne’s (google him) house where we hung out in his man cave that was absolutely stuffed with comic book and sci-fi paraphernalia and every movie ever made on video (this was the 90’s mind you) for hours on end. I tell ya, that experience alone made getting up early on a Saturday morning after a long night of binge drinking all worth it.

So it’s a thrill for me that this year not one, not two, but three comic book based movies came out. It took me a seriously long time to paint The Avengers, because I wanted to get every detail right!

This is a really rare set of 8, which made including Nick Fury and Loki a reality!

The big boy himself: Hulk

Thor…

…and his hammer.

Iron Man when he’s suited up.

Captain America.

The Black Widow.

Hawkeye.

Nick Fury.

…and Loki. I had a great time painting him as an itty bitty lil’ villain.

On a more serious note, I am outraged and saddened by the shooting at a midnight showing of the new Batman movie in Colorado. It never occurred to me that being a fangirl could cost me my life. Pretty soon metal detectors will be installed at movie theaters. Is this the kind of world we want to live in?