Last minute post!!

Hey everyone!

Just a reminder that Ashley and I will be at MegaCon this weekend! We have a table in artist alley, section blue table 6. I will also be on the Womanthology panel this Saturday at 140pm.
Ashley made a bunch of prints for MegaCon too!

-Rachel

MEGACON IS ALMOST HERE!!!!!!!!!

Happy 2012 everyone! I hope that everyone kicked in the New Year with positive vibes, determination, and new goals to aspire to! 

Well, the comic convention season is already kicking off but for us in the South the official comic con season doesn't really start until this February when MegaCon takes over the Orlando convention center. This year will be especially near and dear to my heart because Ashley and I will be in artist alley table 6 Blue. I know Ashley has been working very hard on making prints of both Aspire characters and of more traditional comic characters like Catwoman for this event and her art never disappoints.       

Speaking of Aspire, look here to your right and you will see the cover to issue #5! Keep an eye out for #5 at the begining of Feb. and yes we will have all five issues of Aspire availble at MegaCon. Not going to MegaCon? Don't worry, you can always order it online at Movement Comics.                                                                                                 In other news I will be on one of the panels at MegaCon. As you all know I was one of the contributing writers for Womanthology. On Saturday the 18th of Feb. in room 221 C from 1:40 - 2:30 there will be a Womanthology panel with Q&A at MegaCon and this will be your chance to pick my brain. Other ladies on the Womanthology panel will include: Kate Carelton, Sherri Rose, Tali Adina, Barbara Kesel, Jennifer Mercer, and Heather Royston. 

That's about it for now! 

<3

-Rachel

ISSUE 3 IS FINALLY OUT!

Hey On The Towne newsies. Issue #3 of Aspire is FINALLY out. What can I say? Stuff happens, but it is out now and we are back on track! All of the Jacksonville, FL store have the new issue in stock and all are restocked with issues #1 and #2 too.

Ashley and  I will be at the Jacksonville artwalk from now on. Our table will be located in Hemming Plaza. Come buy original artwork of Ashley's and get the latest issue of Aspire!

Womanthology

Hey ladies and lads! I know this isn't Aspire related but my Meet the Creator video got put up on Womanthology's Blog. Check it out!
Wait, you don't KNOW with Womanthology is? Well dear sir, let me tell you. Womanthology is an all female (writers, artist, inkers, letterers) comic book anthology coming out via IDW this December. All proceeds (and I do mean ALL) are going to various charities. Cool right? So do yourself a favor and keep an eye out for Womanthology at your local comic shops or better yet, PRE-ORDER IT.

Heroes Con Update

It's been a little over a week since Heroes Con in North Carolina and wow what a crazy experience. Ashley and I were given space at the Teenage Satan booth in the Indie Island section of Heroes. Friday we ended up  working the table most of the time and it was so great to see everyone so excited about Aspire. People like  Stephanie Gladden (Bongo Comics, Power Puff Girls + tons of other stuff!) and Jen Van Meter (Hopeless Savages) stopped by the table and picked up copies of Aspire! As someone who grew up watching the Power Puff Girls and who 10 years ago when reading one of the first Hopeless Savages comics decided I wanted to be a comic book writer, well I had some fan girl geek outs. Luckily I was able to keep my cool.....mostly.
Ashley also had minor fan girl geek outs when she realized she was talking to Billy Tucci on Friday (and again Saturday night) and when she realized the Teenage Satan booth was across from Beck Cloonan.  It was definitely a weekend of meeting people we've looked up to but it wasn't all playing around.
Besides working the table and talking up Aspire to everyone who stopped by we went to some panels. No time for the "fun" panels like the Green Lantern or Fables Q & A. No sir-y bob ma'am! SCAD had panels on how to improve skill of: writing, inking, coloring, cover design plus much more! Then there were the informative panels on: family friendly comics, historical comics, horror comics and again much much more. We highly suggest anyone and everyone that is interested in getting into the comic book industry to go to panels of these type when you're at any kind of comic con. They will help you go into the industry with eyes open.
Overall Ashley and I had a fantastic time at Heroes and will be there for now on every year.

Big thank yous:

Thank you Marsha Cooke for giving us the table space at Heroes and the chance to spread the word about Aspire outside of Florida. You are my own personal Wonder Woman sparkle lady.

Thank you to Darwyn Cooke and Steve Niles for taking the time to talk to us about the reality of the industry and for general hanging out.

Thank you to Shelton Drum for hosting Heroes and we look forward to attending the epic 30th year next year!

Fan Art and Heroes Con

This last week I received some fan art by an enthusiastic reader, Fred Neck. I cannot say how surreal and awesome it is to have someone doing fan art of a character I created. Four years ago I never would have dreamed that happening. Now when I go out for a pint I’m answering questions for people who LOVE Destiny in Aspire enough to make fan art of her! Keep it up guys and gals!

I know I’ve said this a bajillion times already but I’m saying it again: the artist of Aspire, Ashley Lanni, and I will be at Heroes Con in NC this week. Marsha Cooke has been kind enough to give us time at her table on Friday and Saturday so anyone who isn’t from FL who wants to check out Aspire here’s your chance to pick it up without bothering with a shipping fee. Look for us at the Teenage Satan booth on Friday from 12-1:30 and Saturday from 4-5:30!!!

NEW FAN SPACE

Filled with so much love for Aspire that you might explode? ME TOO! So here's more fan space for all things Aspire:
Destiny now has a twitter at @AspireComic
Facebook now has an Aspire fan page for you to "Like"
All fan mail can go to AspireComic@gmail.com

More exciting news; we got our first piece of fan art which we will be posting soon. If you have any fan art send it on over via the new email!

Aspire #2

 Well everyone it's been 2 crazy months of talking all of you  into buying the first issue of Aspire and guess what? All of you loved it so much that you shared it with others and we had to do THREE SEPARATE PRINTINGS of #1!!!! Thank you thank you thank you! I wish I could take you all out for ice cream but I have bills to pay so maybe another time! ;)

Last weekend if you went to the Cult Fiction Convention or the Comic Con Plus in Jacksonville, FL you had the chance to pick up issue #2 of Aspire early! Everyone who didn't don't worry, I'm writing this blog post on a Tuesday evening which means tomorrow is Wednesday = new comics. I'm asking everyone do me a big favor right now; if you like Aspire enough to continuously get it please put it on your pull list (or go ahead and get a pull list if you don't already) at your local comic shop! It will help the shops know how many books to order from me and it will let me know how many to print! If you do not live the Jacksonville area you can order from Movement Comics or have your local comic shop contact me directly at radeph@gmail.com to talk about getting Aspire into your area shops.

Quick side note: Ashely and I will be attending Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC in a little over a week. Marsha Cooke, one of the creators of Teenage Satan, has agreed to give us booth time at her personal booth for various times throughout the weekend. We do not have times set in stone yet but as soon as they are figured out I will post on here. We will be traveling with another Jacksonville artist EdBot5000 and the publisher of Movement Magazine Max Michaels (who also does beautiful dark art photography). It will be a party in my Kia on the drive up!

Double Duty for Aspire!!!

This evening was full of OMG for news regarding Aspire. As many of you know this Sunday is Jacksonville, FL's quarterly mini comic con Jax Comic Con Plus and both Ashley and I will have a booth there. We'll be selling copies of Aspire issues 1 AND 2! You read right, issue #2 will be out. The official release date is May 25th but we're doing a special release this weekend at Comic Con Plus AND at the Cult Fiction Convention in downtown Jacksonville. Again, you read that right. Movement Magazine ( a part of Movement Comics) will have a table at the first annual Cult Fiction Convention. I'm seriously thinking about running up to Pam Grier, Foxy Brown herself, and giving her copies of Aspire.

This is only the beginning of the comic booking adventures of Ashely and Rachel. In two weeks we'll be at Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC. The talented Marsha Cooke (Teenage Satan, which will rock your socks off) has agreed to give us time at her booth throughout the weekend. 

Like I said, this evening was full of OMG. See you this weekend?