Uber artist JH Williams III Batwoman signing FUN, FUN, FUN!

From left to right: Michelle Irish, Alternate Reality Comics' resident artist and great friend, Wendy and JH Williams III, me (Ralph), and Paul, another of my great friends and a big part of what makes Alternate Reality Comics so great (Paul primarily works on Sundays so stop by and say hi to him)! Behind us is of course amazing original art from Promethea and the ENTIRE first issue of Batwoman #1 by JH Williams III! This exhibit will be in our Artist Spotlight section of Alternate Reality Comics through October, so if you didn't make our JH signing / reception this past Saturday, you still have almost a whole month to see this in person (and as fantastic as it looks in color, the black and whites and gray washes HAVE to be seen in all of their large 11x17 and double page spread glory!)! This will be the last chance for anyone to see all of the original art of Batwoman #1 in one place because JH and Wendy will be selling these pages in November (thanks to my friend, Jim McKenzie, for suggesting I ask JH to send an entire issue and for JH for allowing my store to have this honor).

As many of my Ich Liebe Comics! readers already know, this past Saturday, Alternate Reality Comics once again was honored to host JH Williams III for a signing, celebrating the debut of Batwoman #1. Actually this was a joint venture with Comic Oasis, who hosted JH and his wife, Wendy, earlier in the day (Derrick, owner of Comic Oasis, and myself do this together because we're both huge JH fans and we wanted to give more people in Vegas a chance to come out to either of our stores depending on their schedules to meet JH and see his original art).

This cake, with an edible JH Williams III Batwoman image upon it, was made by Bakery Magic, a new bakery just down the sidewalk from my store. Everyone who had a piece said it was great and this almost tempted me to stray from my vegan diet!



We've had many many great signings at Alternate Reality Comics over our 17 years and especially this past year at our new bigger space, but I'd have to say that this JH Williams III signing / original art reception surely ranks at the top (we do love all of or signings though and shouldn't pick our favorite kid - grin!)! The entire three hour event had a great flow of people getting JH William III illustrated comics and graphic novels signed, people chatting with JH about his art process and what's coming up with Batwoman, and basically people just showing up to give this great artist some much deserved ego strokes! My only lament about the store being so busy with so many people, was that I myself barely had a chance to look at all of the original art that JH and Wendy brought (but I did see some of the art for upcoming issues of Batwoman and I'm here to tell you that you've only just begun to see what an amazing artist JH is!).

This is Derrick Taylor, owner of Comic Oasis, with his cohort, Holly. Derrick told me that the first part of the JH Williams III signing at his store earlier in the day also was really busy so he wasn't able to make his Bloody Marys at his store. When I heard that he'd be coming over to my store to continue to visit with JH and Wendy, I told him to bring his stuff over to liquor up my customers / friends! I had forgotten that Derrick was a bartender in one of his former lives and had no idea that he'd have the serious set up / ingredients that he had! He made me a Greyhound (grapefruit juice with vodka) and while it was great, to my light-weight ass, it seemed to be three drinks in one! The Bloody Marys Derrick made looked like a meal in a cup, with bacon and celery as just two of the foodstuffs they contained! Thanks Derrick (and Holly), for making my JH Williams III event that was already buzzing, REALLY buzz!

Seriously, my biggest thanks is going to go to all of my fabulous friends / customers for coming to this event and sharing the love with JH Williams III and his wife, Wendy (artists really do appreciate the support and feedback), AND to JH and Wendy for being such a FANTASTIC ARTIST and such wonderful people! More photos from this event can be seen at my store facebook page, just do a facebook search on Alternate Reality Comics, Las Vegas!

To further celebrate being able to display JH's Batwoman #1 art, Alternate Reality Comics is going to extend our 20% off sale on all JH Williams III graphic novels through the end of October, so treat yourself and that special someone in your life to some great sequential art! I want to close by reminding people that they can buy the original art from Batwoman #0 and #1 beginning in November by heading over to JH Williams III's website: http://www.jhwilliams3.com/ and clicking on "store" where you'll also find some of his other original art that is ready for loving homes!