Spotlight Sunday – Russ Kazmierczak

The Two Gay Geeks want to spotlight a local comicbook artist and all around great guy, Russ Kazmierczak. You can find Russ in any number of Geeky / Nerdy situations around the state of Arizona from Cons to Talk Shows to Karaoke. Let’s investigate who Russ is:

We first met Russ at Verde valley Comicon a number of years back and quickly became friends because Russ is just so likeable. Among other things he is the creative mind behind Amazing Arizona Comics, his outlet for his self-published comics. Russ is at most cons around the state with a table to sell his work as well as do quick sketches, most of the time free or for a donation to a cause. His most famous (or infamous) character is Speed Cameron, a Speed Camera Super Hero, inspired by the crazy speed camera’s that used to line the freeways here in Phoenix.

Here is a quote from Russ about Cameron:
Last year, when a young man coincidentally named Cameron came to my table in Artists’ Alley, cosplaying as Amazing Arizona Comics hero Speed Cameron, I cried.

True cosplayers (not the fans that wear store-bought Halloween costumes, though they get an “A” for effort) are incredible artists, implementing a blend of practical crafting and fashion design to transform two-dimensional character designs into affordable, portable costumes. It’s not easy.

Russ does a yearly 24 hour draw-a-thon where he creates a page per hour, usually in the front window of Drawn to Comics. He usually picks a charity to donate to and asks for donations per page. Once he is done with a page he scans it and sends it to his brother on the East Cost to ink it. After the book publishes, you get the original page art and a copy of the book for your donation.

But, that’s not all, Russ has a very active Karaoke calendar. You can find him in multiple places throughout the valley singing lots of Monkee’s songs. 😉 He also has done a Youtube talk show (Phoenix Tonight) and organized Jack Kirby birthday gatherings. As you can see he is a very busy guy, I wonder when he has time to spend with his family.

We got a quote from Russ himself:
I’ve been self-publishing Amazing Arizona Comics since 2010, and offering Free Comic Book Day issues nearly as long. This year’s comic features a wrap-around cover, starring Sam Brero and posing the question: How would superheroes handle Arizona’s immigration debate? My minicomic tackles real-world issues with all-ages superhero adventure, and I’ll be selling them this Free Comic Book Day at Drawn to Comics in downtown Glendale. My thanks to the TGGeeks Podcast for their friendship and support!”

Folks can find Russ on InstaGram @amazingazcomics or online at amazingarizonacomics.com.

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