I haven’t been to San Diego Comic-Con since 2005, and one of the people I genuinely miss seeing more than anyone else? Chynna Clugston.

Chynna is exactly like her comics would make you think; fast-witted, and so sharp she can give you a paper cut. She’s one of those genuinely awesome people out there that I could just sit and talk to (or listen to!) for hours and never cease to be amused. She’s probably best known for her Blue Monday series of comics, about a group of friends in high school. Of course, this group of friends also has a pooka in the form of a six-foot drunken otter hanging around, so it’s a little off-beat. Just like Chynna.

She’s done a ton of comics over the years and they’re a blast and a half; I do also believe that Chynna holds the record for creating the comic that has gotten the most “comments” posted onto it on my review site. (As of this writing, my review of Queen Bee has 26 comments posted! Most of them from fans saying how much they love the book.)

For the record? “Wine belleh” makes me laugh every time I look at this sketch. Seriously. Every time.

Bryan Lee O’Malley is now best known for, of course, the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels, as well as the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World movie. When he drew this sketch for me, though, it was pre-SP. People probably knew him best at the time for drawing the majority of the second Hopeless Savages mini-series (of which Christine Norrie from the previous Wine-Book Wednesdays post drew the first mini-series!), and that’s what this drawing is from.

I love how he used some spot color here, and more importantly Mal is a real treat to talk to. I got to see him most recently when he came to SPX 2008, and he was as smart and nice and interesting as I’d remembered. So many people become a comic superstar and the old version of them goes away, but Mal has continued to be awesome from start to finish.

Christine Norrie is one of those comic creators who I haven’t seen enough of lately, both in her work and in person. (I did run into her last year at MoCCA and that was a real delight, though!) I think a lot of people know her as the artist on the original Hopeless Savages mini-series (which is awesome, incidentally, about the children of two members of a punk band), but she’s got a wide and varied group of material out there.

The last comic from her I read was Breaking Up, and it was a nice reminder of how well she can draw average, ordinary people. I also love that she put my name on the bottle of wine. (Some day, I shall own my own vineyard and retire there… yeah right.)

Christine, if you’re reading this, I need more comics from you! 🙂

Ah, Judd Winick. He’ll forever be known as the guy from The Real World: San Francisco no matter what else he does in his life. Of course, he’s done a ton since then; when I got this sketch he was probably best known (comics-wise) for his comic strip Frumpy the Clown, but he’s gone on to a wide variety of comics including Green Lantern, Batman, Caper, and (my favorite) The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius.

Anyway, Barry’s not old enough for wine, so Judd kindly drew me a Frumpy sketch. He’s a super-nice guy to meet, and it was nice to chat with him for a while.

Durwin Talon is mostly known in comics as a teacher at the Savannah College of Art and Design, these days, but at the time he’d just created drop-dead gorgeous covers for both the Skinwalker mini-series at Oni Press, and Batman: Officer Down at DC Comics. It was the latter that inspired this cover, with Bruce Wayne reflected in the bottle (and a little Bat Symbol on the cork!), dressed up for a night on the town.

I keep hoping to see some more comics by him—he’s an amazing talent—and with any luck it will be sooner rather than later.

This sketch is from Arthur Dela Cruz, who was writing and drawing his thriller/conspiracy comic Kissing Chaos at the time. A funny sidenote about Kissing Chaos for me is that I have on my bookshelf a copy of a German translation… complete with a pull quote from me translated into German on the back cover! I can’t possibly keep copies of every book I’ve been quoted on over the years, but that’s one I’ll always hang onto.

Gary Spencer Millidge is one of those great guys in comics who you meet and instantly think to yourself, “I would trust him with anything.” He lives in England so I don’t see him very often, but it’s always a real treat to do so. Millidge’s big series is a book called Strangehaven, about a man who ends up in a mysterious village that seemingly won’t let him leave no matter how hard he tries. A great mix of mystery, drama, and soap opera; there are three collections out right now, and I live in eternal hope that someday we’ll see more issues and a fourth volume.

The character above is one of the Knights of the Golden Light, a secret society that lurks within Strangehaven. And they’re just the tip of the iceberg, to be honest…

Tony Millionaire is best known for his alternative-paper comic strip Maakies (co-starring Drinky Crow, shown above), as well as his comic book Sock Monkey. He’s a funny, raunchy, high-spirited guy in person, and I remember when he was drawing this that he told me that some snooty friends of his always said, “Come on over and have some ‘zin’!” Clearly, Drinky Crow is a fan of the zin, too.

Rod Espinosa has drawn a lot of series over the years, but my all time favorite book by him is The Courageous Princess, a fun series about a princess who was kidnapped by a dragon but then fights her way free rather than just rolling over and letting herself be a victim. It’s a cute all-ages series, and well worth checking out.

Which reminds me, I need to catch up on his more recent comics… he’s a talent and a half!

When I was in college, my friends Dave and Mark told me about an indy series they loved called Empire Lanes, written and drawn by Peter Gross. And over time, I started seeing him appear on books I read like Doctor Fate, Hellstorm, and Books of Magic. At the time he drew this in my book for me (back in 2002 at San Diego Comic-Con), he was drawing Lucifer, a hugely successful spin-off from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series, and that is of course the title character himself.

He’s since worked on a lot of other series, but his latest is The Unwritten (reuniting him with author Mike Carey who also wrote Lucifer) which is a fantastic book about the secret world behind books and fans. Love his art.