Image Expo coverage & giveaway

Image Expo 2012 in Oakland CA was a fun filled comic weekend offering a variety of booths for just about any reading or artistic taste palette. I was lucky enough to chat with many of the authors, artists and actors which I'll be showcasing below.

The Walking Dead was out in full force and rightly so with its hit AMC television show and amazing toy line done by none other then McFarlane Toys. Talk about a booth that had it all! Good thing I brought the vials of vampire blood...that baby looked hungry.

J.D. Goff showcases two series in his line, the first: Jack Rabbit his comic about an ex-boxer turned private investigator, as he navigates the seedy, supernatural underworld of 1930's Los Angeles... and beyond. Fall 2011, the worlds of noir and horror collide like never before.

His second piece of work is: BIG HITTERS an action/adventure comic book series created by Jonathan Goff (writer) and Travis Sengaus (artist). In a futuristic society, a government teetering on collapse has sanctioned the use of "Hitters" (or hitmen) to help clean up the galaxy following a particularly brutal and far-reaching interstellar war.

Our tale centers on a pair of Hitters (Fresh and Mack) and their day-to-day misadventures through the seediest of underworlds and darkest of back alleys as they search for the next big hit and the true meaning of vengeance.

The creators of Utopiates Josh Finney and Kat Rocha share someone information on the world they've created.

'Tale of...the near future…science is able to distill human personalities into a drug-form. Called utopiates –a merging of the words utopia and opiate– these drugs allow users to swap personalities with the “mental imprints” of other people. Every user has their own reasons for seeking chemical escape, but all soon learn the cost of soul swapping is extremely high.'

Josh Barone brings two of his latest works. Dirt Bike Ninjas and Chicken Soup for the Rubber Soul. Make sure to check this fun and quorky guy out, he's really fantastic and very unique.

I hope everyone who reads this will check all these folks out, a fun and unique set of authors and writers. Hats off to doing what you love and trying to make a living in the process. Our support, in any form, is what gets these guys and gals by. Much Sheep love!

***GIVEAWAY***
What you can win: 
1 signed copy of Jack Rabbit
2 signed copies of Big Hitters
1 signed copy of Utopiates
1 signed copy of Dirt Bike Ninjas
1 signed copy of Chicken Soup for the Rubber Soul

Make sure to list all the following the comments below to be entered to win and double entries for followers.

1. Your Email Address

2. Which person listed above are you most intrigued about?

3. Tweet or FB about this post and earn an extra entry. (Make sure to leave link to post in your comment)

Contest ends March 11th at midnight.

Good Luck!

Sheep Interview: 'The Walking Dead's' Norman Reedus

By: Katie Dalton

Founder & Head Writer

Image Expo 2012 hosted a variety of comic venders, various publishers, artists and actors. With full media access I was able to get a one on one interview with actor Norman Reedus who's currently playing Daryl Dixon on AMC's The Walking Dead. Norman's been acting for some time with previous roles in the films: Boondock Saints I & II, Blade II, Pandorum, Mimic and Deuces Wild just to name a few.

Our interview (and possibly one of the funnest days of my life) is transcribed below, enjoy!

Katie: Hi, I'm Katie it's nice to meet you.

Norman: Hi, babe, how are you? Nice to meet you.

Katie: I'm from I Smell Sheep (points to my shirt like a moron that clearly says "I Smell Sheep") that's me.

Norman: *chuckles* I Smell Sheep, what is that?

Katie: We're a website that reviews books, movies, comics you name it. (hands some swag to Norman) That's for you.

Norman: Right on. Thank you, that's so sweet.

Katie: So your character Daryl, who's awesome by the way, what kind of training did you do for the weapons you use?

Norman: I practice. They show you how to use the crossbow, like loaded and all that stuff. But it's pretty self-explanatory. You load it and it automatically goes into safety. But they don't let you shoot real arrows on the set. So you dry fire and they digitally add the arrows in 'cause you can't have a loaded crossbow swinging around the people. So they teach you how to use it and whatnot. But I've done about 40 films where I kill people so I'm well-versed in weapons at this point.

Katie: Yeah.

Katie: What can we look forward to with your character? And more importantly I need to know are you going to kill Shane, because somebody needs to kill Shane. He needs to die.

Norman: Everybody wants to kill Shane!

Katie: Shane's a loose cannon.

Norman: Yeah, Shane is a loose cannon but that's how well John's [Bernthal] playing the part ya know? You hate him.

Katie: Yes. I fear if I were to meet him I would literally hate the actor.

Norman: John's the nicest guy ever. He's such a pussycat. And what's going to happen with Shane? Well I can't tell you if Shane gets killed because my boss is right around the cover over there. [Robert] Kirkman. But my character is sort of pulling away from the group right now because after Sophia [played by Madison Lintz] it meant a lot for Daryl to find Sophia. He was an abused kind, left behind and I think by finding Sophia it kind of cleared out some of the demons in his closet so to speak. Now he's pulling away. The thing with Daryl is he doesn't really need these people so he's watching them have interaction for the first time. So that's his struggle right now with the whole Sophia thing. But he'll come around.

Katie: This latest episode [Episode 10 "18 Miles Out"] I did not like how your character was coming after Sophia's Mom, that was harsh. So I hope he comes back around because if there was an Apocalypse I want to be on your team! You're my Apocalypse Dream Boat.

Norman: Ah! You're so sweet.

Katie: Well that's what me and my girl friend (Jeni!) call you.

Norman: I love it.

Katie: The character! Well, and you too. Sure!

Norman: *laughs* You're sweet. But the thing with Carol and Daryl is they are both very damaged people so they gravitate towards each other. I don't know if we're going to have a love affair or anything but he comes back around.

Katie: The chemistry between these two characters feels like there could be something and they're both damaged so there could be…

Norman: I got lucky because there were so many scenes with Melissa [McBride] in the beginning of this season and last season. It's nice to act with her, she's just so open. A great actress.

Norman: So where did you get this Sheep stuff from? (Norman points at my shirt) Why Sheep?

Katie: Well…[Response redacted]

***A couple minutes later***

Katie: So, back on the record. What can we look forward to in the coming season?

Norman: Well, the rest of the season is all fireworks. We did a lot of talking in the beginning of this season to set up story-lines because you have to since its television. But from here on out it's just kill, kill and massacre after massacre and blood bullets and zombies. It's all big fireworks from here on out. It doesn't slow down at all.

Katie: When this current season took the break after the barn scene, it was very emotional.

Norman: Just wait.

A big thanks to Image Expo and Norman himself for taking the time to chat with me. An absolute gentlemen and all around down to earth guy. It's not too late to check out The Walking Dead, with so much more to offer then just zombies eating folks.