As many of our customers and friends know, last year we lost our good friend Mike Wieringo, artist of comics such as Fantastic Four, Flash, and Tellos. I’m very pleased to announce that Matt and Suzanne Wieringo, Mike’s brother and sister-in-law, have started a scholarship at SCAD in Mike’s name.

The scholarship will have a table at Heroes Con in Charlotte this weekend, where you’ll be able to buy Mike’s sketchbooks, comics, and original art, and get sketches and signatures from some of the top talents in comics. All proceeds from the booth will go to the scholarship.

Chapel Hill Comics is not setting up a booth this year, but we’ll be helping out at the scholarship booth for a while on Saturday. Please come by and show your support for the cause, either by picking up some comics, some of Mike’s fantastic art, or just by dropping a couple bucks in the can!

Here’s the press release with all the details for The ‘Ringo Scholarship:

Mike Wieringo Scholarship “The ‘Ringo” Announced

Wieringo’s Friends and Family to Host Special Fundraising Booth at Heroes Con

CHARLOTTE, NC (June 16, 2008) When Mike Wieringo abruptly passed away last August, the comics industry lost more than a great artist and creator – it lost a friend. Now, Mike’s family has teamed with the Savannah College of Art and Design to create The Mike Wieringo Scholarship or “The ‘Ringo” to help keep his spirit of generosity alive.

Created by Mike’s brother Matt and his sister-in-law Suzanne, the ‘Ringo is designed to help provide similar help to artists at the Savannah College of Art and Design or SCAD. Domestic and international students with have a minimum 3.0 grade point average who demonstrate financial need and display a serious interest in pursuing comics as a career are eligible. The scholarship will take effect in the artist’s second year of classes, and is renewable for up to two additional years, provided the student continues to meet the criteria.

The recipient will be chosen from three finalists determined by the college in a portfolio review by Matt and Suzanne Wieringo, along with a rotating group. The ultimate goal for the ‘Ringo is to raise enough funds so that it can cover a full year’s expenses at SCAD, approximately $30,000.

Toward this end, a table staffed by Mike’s family and friends will be set up in his traditional spot in Artists Alley at Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC. Heroes was a big part of Mike’s life and career, and was the industry event he most looked forward to every year.

The table will raise funds through donations and the sale of remaining copies of Mike’s sketchbooks, copies of comics featuring Mike’s work, selected pieces of Mike’s original artwork, sketches by Mike’s friends in the industry who will be appearing at the booth, and items donated by other comic professionals. Pros appearing include Jeff Parker, Rich Faber, Craig Rousseau, Todd Dezago, Mark Waid, Cully Hamner, Richard Case and more to be announced.

“SCAD is one of the most impressive programs in the world to focus on the medium of comics,” says Jeff Parker, creator of The Interman and Agents of Atlas, who worked with Mike at Artamus Studios. “I’m pretty sure Mike would have loved to have attended such a place in his student days. It would make an excellent legacy for him if we can grow the Ringo scholarship into a launch pad for the future greats of comics.”

Despite his success on such books as The Flash, Fantastic Four and his own creator-owned Tellos, Mike Wieringo never forgot what it was like to be a struggling creator. For many up-and-comers, Mike served as a mentor and friendly voice, whether it was providing free covers, advice, or just the encouragement to keep going.

With your help, the Mike Wieringo Scholarship can continue to grow and help a new generation of creators get the training and connections they need to start their careers. Mike’s talent, enthusiasm and generosity inspired many in the comics industry to be their best as both creators and as human beings. With your help, Mike will continue to be an inspiration for creators in decades to come.

Thanks,
Andrew Neal
Chapel Hill Comics
412 W Franklin St
(Soon to be 316 W Franklin St)
Chapel Hill, NC 27516

We’ve had a very busy summer and early fall, so we have been a little neglectful of our email newsletter over the last month.  Let’s get back on track!

[MIKE WIERINGO FUNDRAISER]
First of all, thanks to everyone who participated in our Mike Wieringo fundraiser by donating your spare change in Mike’s name.  Our customers donated a grand total of $159, which we will be matching, so that we can send $159 each to Mike’s two charities, the ASPCA and the Hero Initiative!  Thanks, everyone.

[24 HOUR COMIC BOOK DAY 2007]
Chapel Hill Comics is proud to announce that we will be participating again in 24 Hour Comics Day this year, where participants spend a full 24 hours in the store and each attempt to create a 24-page comic!  We’ll send out an official announcement and call for entries later this week.  In the meantime, check out these links:

Our 2006 24 Hour Comics Day:
http://www.chapelhillcomics.com/content/?cat=8

24 Hour Comics Day World Headquarters:
http://24hourcomics.com/

[STORE REMODEL]
Last but not least, after a mere two and a half years in this location, we’re working on a remodel!  We’re adding more bookcases and wall displays, so that we can showcase even more graphic novels and comics!  We hope to have the remodel completely done by the end of the month.  In the meantime, stop by frequently and watch the progress!

Thanks,
Andrew Neal
Chapel Hill Comics

Hello, everyone!

First of all, I want to take a minute to welcome the students, staff, and faculty of UNC back to town. We’ve already seen a ton of you over the last week, and hope to see many more as you get resettled in town!

Next, I’d like to mention that we are still collecting money to donate to the ASPCA and the Hero Initiative in memory of our friend Mike Wieringo.

We have had a fantastic response already, and due to the fact that folks who want to donate are still coming in every day, we’re going to leave the collection box out a while longer.

Anyone who gives a donation will receive a copy of the Dynamic Forces Premiere: Tellos Prologue comic. This is a a great issue to introduce you to Mike’s art if you aren’t already familiar with it.

More about Mike Wieringo:
http://www.chapelhillcomics.com/content/?p=163

Thanks a lot,
Andrew Neal
Chapel Hill Comics

First of all, here’s the link to our previous post on our friend Mike Wieringo.

We will be collecting money starting today at the store to make donations to the ASPCA and the Hero Initiative as requested by Mike Wieringo’s brother Matt. If you’ve got an extra buck or two when you come in, throw it in the box, and we’ll send it along in Mike’s name.

I just remembered that we still had copies available of the following Mike Wieringo comic: the DF Premiere Tellos Prologue. We will be giving away copies with any donation while supplies last. We started the day with 60 or 70 copies, so who knows how long they’ll last. The comic includes a 10 page Tellos comic by Todd Dezago and Mike Wieringo, and 12 pages of sketches and interviews. It’s a great introduction to the world of Tellos, if you’ve never read it. Please consider donating any amount at the store to receive one of these fine comics.
If you’d rather donate individually, their websites are:

http://www.aspca.org
http://www.heroinitiative.org

Thanks,
Andrew Neal
Chapel Hill Comics

Hello there,

Those of you who frequent comic book news sites will already know this. For those of you who don’t, I have bad news.

Comic Book artist and personal friend Mike Wieringo died suddenly of a heart attack this Sunday. He was 44 years old.

Mike was a fantastic and popular artist, and the nicest guy I’ve ever known.

We will be collecting money starting today at the store to make donations to the ASPCA and the Hero Initiative as requested by Mike’s brother Matt. If you’ve got an extra buck or two when you come in, throw it in the box, and we’ll send it along in Mike’s name. If you’d rather donate individually, their websites are:

http://www.aspca.org
http://www.heroinitiative.org

We currently have at our website a remembrance of Mike which includes some photos and links to other remembrances:

http://www.chapelhillcomics.com/content/?p=163

(I didn’t realize when I was working on it that I had managed to label the post as private, but if you tried to view it before, you can see it now.)

Thanks,
Andrew Neal
Chapel Hill Comics

I learned earlier today that my friend Mike Wieringo died this weekend. Lots of folks who shop with us know Mike’s work. Over the years he was the penciller on lots of great comics, from the Flash, to Superman, to the Fantastic Four, to his and Todd Dezago’s creator owned fantasy series Tellos.

I can’t claim to have been as close a friend as others who have posted elsewhere online, but I wanted to share my thoughts of Mike, just to let folks know that we haven’t just lost a great comic artist, we’ve lost a truly kind, gentle, and wonderful man.

I met Mike when I was 19 or 20; I was working for Dan Breen, back when he owned the business and it was called the Second Foundation Bookstore. Mike came in with some of his studiomates, picked out some books, and came to the register. I noticed his name on his credit card, and was dumbstruck: Mike Wieringo was my favorite comic book artist, and I had no idea he was local! I introduced myself and stated that I loved his work, and played it pretty cool. I didn’t want to seem like too much of a fanboy.

Mike Wieringo with a fan at Free Comic Book Day in 2003.

Mike was great. He was kind, humble, and very appreciative of the fact that I was a fan. Having seen him interact with lots of people over the years, I know now that he would have been just as nice to me if I had gushed at him about his work.

Over the years, Mike was a consistent customer in the store, and I was a consistent fixture behind the register. Over the course of the fifteen years that I went from a part time summer clerk to the owner of the store, I always enjoyed talking to Mike every time I saw him in the store. Even if I was completely bogged down in orders or bookkeeping in the office, I always made a point to come out to see Mike if I heard his voice.

At some point I started to think of Mike more as a friend than a customer or colleague in the industry.

Mike reading a comic by Claude, one of our regular customers.

He was always fun to talk to: sometimes he’d hang out in the store for 45 minutes or an hour before mentioning that he needed to get back to his work. We talked about my plans for the store, his upcoming projects, our cats, the last season of Deadwood, all kinds of stuff.

He was very generous with his time: He did a couple of signings in the store despite his frequently crushing work schedule, and each time stayed longer than scheduled to meet the demand of fans who wanted signatures and sketches. We have a lot of customers who are young kids, and lots of them brought their own comics for Mike to read at the last signing we had. He read them all and was very encouraging and complementary to the kids who drew them.

He loved comics: Mike was maybe the most omnivorous comic reader I’ve ever encountered. We shared interests in several artists, and would both gush over them when a new book came out. Despite the fact that Mike was a comics professional, he never stopped being a fan.

He loved animals: If you looked at Mike’s personal work, you’d know this without ever speaking to him. He considered his cat Charlie his best friend. He was a vegetarian, and while his health was certainly a concern, part of the reason was that he simply loved animals too much to eat them.

He was the kindest, most gentle person I knew: I don’t know what more to say about this; it’s hard to pick an example because his kindness and friendliness were present in every single conversation I ever had with him.

I miss Mike.

Links (The high traffic volume is causing database errors at Newsarama and seems to have affected Mike’s site too, so try back later if you can’t get through now):

Newsarama Story: Mike Wieringo Passes Away.

Mike’s brother Matt will be posting updates at Mike’s website: MikeWieringo.com

Remembrance by Mike’s friends:
Mark Waid, Todd Dezago, and Karl Kesel
Scott Kurtz
Jeff Parker
Jamar Nicholas
A lot of folks loved Mike, so I’m sure I’m missing people here.

Mike and me.

Thanks,
Andrew Neal
Chapel Hill Comics