Mark Schultz - I AM GOOM!

Mark was super gracious enough to sketch this in one of my Monsters Unleashed mini promo sketchbooks at the inaugural GraphFix Con at the Hilton Hotel in Midtown, Manhattan, Sunday, May 4th, 2025.

I'd gone to the show mainly to see him, as he doesn't do area shows very often, the last time being in 2019. While I didn't wind up buying any originals from him (he had a couple of very nice dinosaur/dragon style pencil prelims but they were a bit out of my budget) I did pick up a couple of prints and he signed a couple of comics. I asked him when I first got there if he was doing any sketching (which I know he usually doesn't) and as expected he said he wasn't as it kept him from interacting with folks. Fair enough. After spending a few hours at the show, I went out for lunch with some friends and we decided to make a quick stop back before heading home. It was now close to closing for the show and only a few attendees were still milling about. As I passed by Mark's table, I noticed him sketching a head shot of Storm for someone.

Hmm...I made mention to him that I saw he was now sketching and would he be able to do a Kirby monster in my Kirby monster book? To my delight, he said yes! He'd do 'my version of a Kirby monster' which was more than fine by me.

He finished up the Storm (very nicely done, in progress photo in the extra pics) and I gave him the sketchbook and let him choose a monster from the various pages of reference I had. He zeroed in on Goom. I asked if I could film him while he drew, to which he agreed. (I'll upload that to YouTube soon).

He spent around 10 minutes on the sketch and when I asked what I owed him, he waved if off and said 'nothing.' How cool is that? I told him how I was thrilled to get a sketch from him, especially of a Kirby monster and how it had made my day, especially as I'd come specifically to see him.

How awesome! A super nice guy and such a master of art.