Black Friday is almost among us.  It is the time of year that the x-mas shopping begins to help keep our economy running.  For those of you on a budget, you may want to this out:

We have a lot to be thankful for, even the shirts on our backs! So in celebration we have some new reduced prices on some awesome T-shirts at elfsar.com!  Just select Clothing in the category menu and click the search tab to see all the shirts on sale!  Prices range from $12.95 to $5.95! Locals pickups are available to those who live in the greater Vancouver area at our head office in North Vancouver.

Happy Thanksgiving to all the American’s out there!

This is the original pencils of what was one of many official entries to the “Draw the cover for issue #100″ by Wizard Magazine the guide to comics back in ’99.  It features Deadpool blasting his gun upwards to an unknown target with bullets exploding around him using a very bizarre angled birds eye point of view.

History: Wizard contacted me the summer of 1999 to inform me that I had been selected as a front runner in the contest.  In fact, the contest had become a two man race between myself and another artist from Mexico.  I was contacted by them a day before the 1999 San Diego Comic Con and while I was in attendance at the SDCC, I met with someone from Wizard who gave me the assignment to draw/design 4 Thor covers.  They would compare my designs with the other artist and then pick a final winner for the contest.

I remember being very excited about this “big break” into one of the most difficult businesses to break into.  The contest was no little thing too.  Apparently they had received thousands upon thousands of entries.  The winner would get flown to New York to meet, greet and get their portfolio reviewed by the top comic book publishers in the industry with all expenses paid (in addition to getting to draw the #100 cover of Wizard magazine!)  In fact, I couldn’t wait to get started on them so I ended up drawing the 4 covers in the car on the road trip home back to Edmonton, Alberta Canada.

I was later informed via phone that they had chosen the other artist as the contest winner. However, since collectively the power that be at Wizard had a very hard time deciding who to choose, they would like me to do a more finished piece to be featured inside the book.  I also remember the guy on the phone throwing in the joke, “We just couldn’t decide …so we decided to put it up to a coin toss (laughing).” Then he must have realized that I was not laughing with him.  In fact, I was pretty crushed that I had my big break taken away, so he painfully backtracked.

I took the request to do a more finished piece pretty seriously and colored the thing myself with the sheer determination to make them regret to have not picked me…lol.

It was very cool to see my work published inside the #100 issue on page 126.  But drawing the cover would have been sweet.  Getting the all expense paid personal interaction with the major publishers (outside of a convention) would have been even sweeter.  But alas it was not my path.

I never got my original colored art back too which to this day still kind of urks me.  I think Wizard lost it or maybe threw it in the trash as they never ever returned any of my messages.

FYI: The cover never ended up being Thor as Wizard changed it to Hawkman (or knowing Wizard, probably got the artist to redraw it as Hawkman).  The artist I was competing with ended up being the talented Carlo Barberi who DC hired to work on Young Justice!  I totally understand why Wizard picked him over me too.  In the late nineties, artists like Joe Madureira, Tim Townsend were ‘ubber hot’ as the more anime influenced style was selling books like crazy.  I think Barberi’s style was way more marketable than my own and he has grown to be a very talented comic book artist.  Heck, I don’t even know what my style is… I am still trying to figure it out…lol.

Also: I have recently gone back and revisited the piece using Photoshop (12 years later) to give it even more dynamics and incorporate a little more meaning of Deadpool breaking the 4^th wall.  Let me know what you think.

Check out my Deviant art page for more.

This goes out to all the fathers out there, but one in particular is my dad, Graham Peacock abstract painter.

2011 latest work – He just finished a new batch of “miniatures” which are a pretty good representation of his colorsense and a darn good price considering the caliber of the work.  Take a look at the gallery and see for yourself.

Check out: http://www.grahampeacock.com/ for the main site.

Anyways, happy fathers day Dad

• Over the next few months, Facebook will be archiving all groups created using the old groups format.  So instead of automatically transferring you, they are making our lives difficult by forcing us to start over from scratch.  I am sure they are hoping to gain more advertising sales as well by forcing every group to start at 0 members again.   So after careful thought, we decided to change the group to a facebook page.
  This is the link to the old group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5515647817 

  Please take 2 seconds and click [LIKE] on the new page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elfsar-Collection-ltd/100654093346698?sk=info
  and your work here is done.

  Thanks,  -Big Elf

This was the sketch that was given away by Elfsar to a lucky winner at the 3D advance screening of THOR on May 4th at the Scotiabank Theatre in Vancouver, BC.   I helped present the advance screening and could not resist promoting Free Comic Book Day (which was held the following Saturday, May 7th).  I made sure to mention that RX Comics was running a fundraiser for the Vancouver Foodbank.

The sketch was totally inspired by an amazing Thor sketch by Michael Cornelius Suayan who was paying homage to Oliver Coipel’s rendition of Thor.  His stuff makes my sketches look like crap.  lol!

See more stuff on my Deviant Art page.

The picture above certainly fills me with memories.  Last year was our last Free Comic Book Day event at our Yaletown location and although it was a tremendous amount of work to put together, it was also the most rewarding.

Okay, stop reading this and get your butt down to a participating retailer for Free Comic Book Day! For a list of locations near you: http://www.freecomicbookday.com/fcbd_locator.asp

Sadly Elfsar is unable to participate, but we did drop off a couple long boxes of kid friendly comics at the Ronald McDonald House this morning.  So I still feel good about the day.  I found out, that RX Comics is running a Food Fundraiser this year.  So make sure to support those making the effort to go above and beyond the expectations for FCBD.

-Big Elf

In your best old English speak; tell us why you are most deserving of a double-guest pass to the advance 3D screening for THOR and you could win tickets to the show (Wednesday, May 4th, 7:00pm
At the Scotiabank Theatre – 900 Burrard Street)
Opening in theatres May 6th

Example: “Thy love for Thor, Odinson, God of Thunder, hath endured lo, these many months. It hath overcome every obstacle I shall deny it no longer! Thy must hath thou tickets to the rainbow bridge!”

Winners will be picked at random:  Send submissions via Facebook Group, Facebook Page, Twitter, Youtube or email your submission to: admin@elfsar.com

Visit the official website:  http://thor.marvel.com

The highest graded copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 (the first appearance of Spider-Man by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee) has sold in a private transaction for $1.1 million yesterday afternoon.  The CGC comic was graded at a 9.6 and has thus far set a new record for the highest price paid for a Silver Age comic book to date.  It just goes to show you that although a lot of people feel that the current comic industry is suffering from digital woes, there is currently a lot of activity in the CGC market.  Especially with all these new Marvel movies coming out.   The silverage (1956 to 1970′s) books are booming with interest, as prices keep rising.

Note:  The previous best sale for a copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 was for $227,000 in 2007 for a 9.4 copy from the famous White Mountain collection.

The broker for the sale is comicconnect.com, who also sold an Action Comics #1 for 1.5 million last year. (See:  Superman is on top again)

Do you have comics that you want to get graded?  Elfsar Collection ltd. is still the primary CGC representative here in Vancouver.  Click here for more info.

Want to see what CGC books we have in stock?  We have a big CGC sale on right now.  Just go to our search page and type CGC in the search key.

Above is part of the donation Elfsar Collection is giving away at Cthulhupalooza II: Son of Cthulhupalooza this Friday February 18th at the Rickshaw Theatre (254 east Hastings Street Vancouver, BC)

The other part is a secret… but let’s just say it will help keep any doomsayers energized for the evening!

What are you doing this Friday night?  Well scratch those plans and answer the call of Cthulhu instead at Cthulhupalooza II: Son of Cthulhupalooza (arg, try saying that 5 times fast) This is the second event put on by the fabulous people at Second Level Wizards celebrating Cthulhu and rocking out!

Check out a Cthulhu themed Miskatonic Middleschool Bake Sale competition,  tons of short films and videos that would satisfy any doomsday cult,  a chance to hear the Folk/Metal band Scythia play live, not 1 but 2 beautiful burlesque shows by the talented Little Miss Risk, the premiere of the brand new music video “20 Minutes of Oxygen” from local Cthulhu rockers THE DARKEST OF THE HILLSIDE THICKETS and best of all a chance to hear them play live!

Don’t know who Cthulhu is? Then this may not be the event for you or maybe it is and you just don’t know it yet.  Here is the itinerary for the evening:

6:30 Doors open, Miskatonic Bake Sale begins
7:15 Short Films block 1
8:00 Bake Sale Awards Ceremony
8:20 Little Miss Risk burlesque 1
8:40 Short Films block 2
9:00 SCYTHIA folk metal
9:40 Little Miss Risk burlesque 2
10:00 Short Films block 3 including announcement of winner for Thickets fan video contest
10:25 premiere of “20 Minutes of Oxygen” video
10:30 THE DARKEST OF THE HILLSIDE THICKETS

Tickets are only $15 of your Earths dollars.

WARNING: THE EVENTS ABOVE MAY BE TOO MUCH FUN FOR YOU TO HANDLE AND MAY PROVIDE YOU WITH WEIRD TALES OF ROCK THAT WILL SHAKE THE OLD ONES OUT OF YOU!