Milton resident, Marvel comic book artist to be featured at Atlanta’s MomoCon

By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com

MILTON, Ga. — For Milton resident Mark Brooks, the work week is no ordinary 9 to 5. Right now, he’s illustrating cover No. 16 of Marvel’s “Immortal X-Men” series.

Brooks, a critically acclaimed InkPot Award winner, starts the process using a large computer monitor tilted at 45 degrees for digital penciling. If he’s not in a time crunch, Brooks prefers the traditional process. He prints the drawing in non-photo blue and uses different mediums from there — a marker base, then Prismacolor or Polychromos pencils and acrylic paint.

There’s a purity to comic books, Brooks said.

“While yes, technology has improved, and there are people that do comics fully digitally now, it’s still an artist sitting down and having to draw these things,” he said. “It’s still done the same way today that it was done in the ’60s, or the ’50s.”

Comic books hooked Brooks as a preteen. After reading his first, “Uncanny X-Men” No. 217, Brooks bought comics every month and started drawing their contents. He named Alan Davis, who worked on “Uncanny X-Men” and continues to work for Marvel, as an inspiration.

“He just – it just captured my imagination like crazy,” Brooks said.

In May, he will be featured as a guest artist at MomoCon, an annual multi-genre convention in Atlanta that celebrates anime, gaming, comics and cosplay. The event, which has the second largest game hall in the country, saw 42,000 attendees last year.

“Mark Brooks is definitely an icon in the comics world, so we were very excited at even the opportunity to possibly have him as a guest, much less confirm him as a guest,” said Jess Merriman, MomoCon co-founder.

This year will be Brooks’ fifth time attending MomoCon, but his first as a guest artist.

Brooks has had two decades of success, illustrating art for titles such as Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Avengers and more. He described his humble beginnings — waiting in line to meet artists at conventions, holding a scrappy portfolio of fan art.

But his career took off in 2001 at Wizard World Chicago, now Fan Expo Chicago, when he picked up gigs working on “Transformers” and “G.I. Joe.” Through connections, he found himself with a company affiliated with Marvel’s Deadpool.

“I ended up meeting Bill Jemas, who was the publisher of Marvel at the time, and he offered me work, and the rest is history,” Brooks said.

His favorite project was “Star

Wars: Hans Solo,” a five-issue series nominated for an Eisner Award. He illustrated the interior work and made his wife Lisa Kwon and former editor Heather Antos part of Star Wars canon. The two are twin Twi’lek racers.

Brooks has also stepped out of the comic book world and recently illustrated artwork for three Tool tour posters, a band known for its visual art.

It’s uncertain whether Brooks will be on a panel at MomoCon, but he will have a table where prints and books will be available. He also plans to make an appearance at Infinite Realities, a Tucker comic book shop, after the convention.

Brooks said he’s interested in seeing how visitors will receive an American comic book artist at a convention primarily focused on anime and manga.

“I’m hoping that there will be a lot of kids there looking at me cross-eyed,” Brooks said.

Brooks has been a longtime fan of anime and manga. Though his current works are more realistic in style, his early days were filled with more cartoonish, anime illustrations.

Brooks said he signs a lot of comics for adults, but he especially enjoys seeing kids who make their way to his booth.

“When you look at all the stuff they have available to them, and they still choose to sit down and read a comic book — I think that’s amazing,” Brooks said.

MomoCon, held at the Georgia World Congress Center, will take place May 25-28. For more information, visit momocon.com.