SAN DIEGO “" Whether it’s from “Transformers” the music world or just from Twitter, everyone’s heard of Tyrese Gibson. The star is the self-appointed life of the party; a charismatic force that sweeps over everything in his path. Making his second appearance at San Diego Comic-Con, Gibson came with a double-hitter of Con presentations.
“Everybody else is showing up, talking on panels about their movies, and they’re leaving” said Gibson. “I was out there seven hours, selling comic books yesterday on the floor.”
This year, Gibson was not only at Comic-Con to promote “Legion” his new film with Dennis Quaid and Paul Bettany, but also to promote his debut comic book, “Mayhem.”
Gibson said it wasn’t until he came to San Diego Comic-Con last year to promote “Death Race” that he truly became interested in the world of comics.
“I’ve never been exposed to so much selfless, selfless passion for anything that someone believed in, ever” he said of the experience. “I mean, I come from the world of music, done my share of films, but people don’t show up looking like Tyrese at a Tyrese concert. And so for people to be here, showing up looking like their favorite comic book character, says a lot about the level of passion that’s here for Comic-Con. (I’ve) never been exposed to it before.”
Saying he represents “the new generation of comic book fans” Gibson admitted he wasn’t a fan of comic books growing up, but after his Comic-Con experience in 2008, he felt the need to become involved in the world.
He said Todd McFarlane and Robert Kirkman of Image Comics gave him “the opportunity of a lifetime” to create his own debut comic book, “Mayhem.” Citing 20,000 copies sold on presales alone, Gibson was enthused enough about his new comic book that he passed out free autographed copies to everyone in the press room.
Comic-Con exclusive Mayhem tribute to Jack Kirby
Showing he has done his research about comic book culture in the past year, Gibson said the Comic-Con exclusive cover of “Mayhem” volume one is a tribute to Jack Kirby, with the page rip added into the art in the corner. The cover art for volume one was done by Ton Rodriguez, but Gibson had some exciting news to share about volume two.
“Jim Lee was just in my booth today. We got him to do the cover of issue number two” Gibson shared with an excited grin on his face. “Jim Lee is the founding partner of Image Comics. He parted ways and went over and did Wild Storm at DC. And for him to be doing anything at Image is a very big deal, and not only is he doing issue number two, we just revealed today on the Image panel, he’s doing the full wrap around graphic novel for Mayhem, too, which is a very, very big deal. So I’m excited.”
Gibson shared that the writing for volume four was already written, the artwork is completed up to issue three.
“It’s just kind of a process” he said. “We’ve got to stay ahead of the curb. And so we’re rolling.”
“Mayhem” hits comic book retailers August 5.
At first glance, I thought the leading hand was too small to be in proportion. Then at second glance I realised the whole damn drawing is wrong. Echoing Kirby isn’t as easy as it might appear, it seems. This is very second-rate.
BB