Mark Wheatley & Marc Hempel
Oct 18, 2003

TRUE BELIEVERS VISITING ARTIST SERIES CONTINUES IN OCTOBER

Santa Fe, NM - September 29, 2003 - For some unknown reason, comic books have long been regarded the uncouth, unwashed cousins of the comic strip, even though that would be like comparing feature films with filmstrips.

It is true that, thanks to the late Chuck Jones' gallery for example, cartoon art is beginning to be considered a fine art medium. But, despite the fact that some of the 20th century's greatest illustrators - including Frank Frazetta, Jean "Moebius" Gerard, Will Eisner and Bernie Wrightson - have elevated comic art to a whole new level, widespread appreciation of the form as fine art has been elusive.

True Believers Comics and Gallery opened in Santa Fe last spring with an eye toward changing all that. With this in mind, the next round in their visiting artist series is scheduled for October 18th, featuring members of Insight Studios out of Baltimore, who themselves are big proponents of the comic-art-as-fine-art aesthetic. In fact, more than almost any mainstream comic publisher, they are inclined to put their money where their mouth is, having published several fine art books featuring masters of the illustrative craft.

Two of Insight Studios best and brightest - Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel - will be hosting events at True Believers Gallery on Saturday, October 18th. They'll have fine art pieces framed, on display and available for collectors. If you sign up early, you might make it into the free portfolio review session (something that went over big when Bernie Wrightson was in town last month). Of course, their comic work will be available and they'll be happy to sign autographs. Also, they've agreed to celebrity judge a Halowe'en-themed fan art contest open to all ages.

Wheatley has cleverly timed the release of his new comic series, Frankenstein Mobster, to hit during October, just in time for Hallowe'en. In the past, he's worked for Heavy Metal and self-published a mythological opus called Hammer of the Gods. His cohort, Marc Hempel, is known in underground comic circles as the creator of Gregory and the series Naked Brain. Hempel's biggest claim to fame, however, may be his 13-issue run on The Kindly Ones, the penultimate chapter of one of comicdom's biggest critical and commerical successes - The Sandman.

It's been said that the only original American art forms are jazz and comics. Join Mark Wheatley, Marc Hempel and True Believers Gallery for a celebration of "comics as fine art" Saturday, October 18th, at 435 S. Guadalupe, Suite "C" (across from Tomasita's). True Believers' new winter hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11am-7pm. Call 992-TRUE during business hours for up-to-the-minute information on scheduling or to sign up for a free portfolio review.