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Sam Kieth Speaks On Vassilis Gogtzilas's Behalf!
READ WHAT SAM KIETH (THE MAXX) HAS TO SAY ABOUT MISERY CITY & VASSILIS GOGTZILAS!

With Vassilis Gogzilas one is immediately struck with the his ability to portray an astonishing range of styles, moods, and technically execute them all with astounding verisimilitude. Too use a four dollar word, yet one that aptly applies.

He paints with the confidence of someone ten years his senior, yet can flawlessly morph into childlike minimal exaggeration in a heart beat. His pencil/brush line can be both unflinchingly savage and gracefully precise. His imagination sometimes seems to spontaneously splatter across his pages,  yet he's also very thorough and careful with what he conjures. In the end, whatever he dreams up in line, brush or plot, often ends wonderfully choreographed and ends up seemingly inevitable.

He's not just a comic artists, a fresh new storyteller, an award willing
illustrator, but a person of great heart and humor. And a damned fine
human being too. Check out his latest, Misery City. It's really a giant
leap for someone already well on their way to great things.

- Sam Kieth

Vassilis Gogtzilas is a comic book creator, illustrator and painter. He was born in 1978 in Greece. He studied graphic design in Applied Arts Studies School. Among his works are illustrations for newspapers (Thessaloniki, Macedonia), magazines (Epiloges, Sunday, Soul,Athens Voice) and children's books. Many of his comics were published in small press magazines and also in 9 comics magazine. He illustrated the advertising comic book Deniman which won the Most Ingenious Marketing Award at the first DNR Textile Awards of DNR magazine(USA). He participated in Popgun a comics anthology published by Image Comics. His work is presented in Taschen's Illustration Now Vol. 2. He is the creator of Mister Universe published in Popgun Vol.2 and as a one-shot comic book from Image Comics. His comics are described as "bdepression" by the french site Front Froid. He lives and works in north Greece.

News

Ahead Of The Pack entry # 7
WHEN IS A COMIC-CON NOT A COMIC-CON?

Does Comic-Con’s involvement in other media add or detract?

By Zev Hurwich

For the general public the biggest names at this year’s big comic book convention aren’t actually involved with comic books.  They’re the actors, producers and stars of the current and upcoming blockbusters on both the big and small screen.   More and more comic-cons are being used to showcase movies and T.V. shows, many of which like Thor, or Chuck have strong ties to the comic book medium.  However we also see shows like Glee which have little to no relevance in the comic book industry popping up, things which beyond being outside of the comic book realm, have little bearing on the “nerd culture” which calls comic-con its home.

The reasoning behind adding alternative media to comic conventions is simple enough to get behind.  Broaden the scope of guests, broaden the appeal, get more attendees, make more money.  You can’t blame people for wanting to make more money, and spicing up conventions with different types of guests can make them more interesting.  However there is a distinct difference between widening your appeal and forgetting your basic raison d’être.

So can comics and movies coexist in one convention?  Maybe.  Comic-Con international, while to the rest of the masses, seems to overshadow it’s comic book side, the astute comic book fan would disagree.  Sure they have J.J. Abrams, but they also have the biggest names in all of comic-bookdom.  Over saturating both mediums does have a downside though.  It means that for the people attending they need to decide which medium they care about more.  Furthermore, it creates congestion, especially for the San Diego con.  Wading through thousands of fans to get to anywhere is never a fun experience.  For some people both of these points enhance the experience, but for many its just annoying.

So movies, and T.V. are good at comic convention, except when they’re bad.  Then the real question is can comic book fans have their cake, and eat it too?  Yes, absolutely, a thousand times yes.  If we have the cake, not eating it is just silly and yet that doesn’t mean that we have to eat until excess.   What, this is about comic conventions?  Right, what I meant to say, before the allure of cake distracted me, is that it’s okay to have a diverse array of media at comic book conventions, just not too much.  I firmly believe that a comic book convention, should be a convention based around comic books.  Movies and T.V. can further this cause without overshadowing it.  One of the best examples would be C2E2 the new convention in Chicago.  While many television, and movie guests, and panels were present it never detracted from the overall feel of the convention.  It’s a subtle line, but it can be done.