We are super excited to bring a little Muppet love back to New York Comic Con this year!
ToughPigs will once again be presenting The Muppet Drawing Challenge! If the title didn’t make it painfully obvious, it’s an event where some of our artsy friends illustrate Muppets in front of a live Comic Con audience. The twist: They have no idea who or what they’ll be asked to draw. Fozzie Bear as a Ghostbuster? Bert dancing the hula? Big Mean Carl eating another slightly smaller Mean Carl? And with the very latest in technology, we’ll have a digital A/V projector showing the artists work live!
This panel was a huge success for us at NYCC ’23, so we’re jazzed to get the opportunity to do it again. Curious how this might look? Click here to watch the video from the last time we attempted this chaos!
So, who will be this year’s victims, drawing puppets for our entertainment?
Chris “Smig” Smigliano – The artist-in-residence for ToughPigs.com! Smig is one of the longest-running Muppet fan artists still working in the game today, having been creating Muppet artwork since the MuppetZine days.
Jay Fosgitt – Recent winner of the Reuben Award for Best Graphic Novel, Jay’s been growing in popularity thanks to his work in Marvel Comics. And Muppet fans may recognize his style from the Fraggle Rock comic books.
Dave Hulteen – Not only has Dave been making Muppet fan art for longer than some of you have been alive, but he’s been delving out of the “fan art” and into the “official” category, having designed the cover art for Craig Shemin’s Sam & Friends books.
Richard Michael Gomez – Well known all over social media, Richard is a brilliant and quick-witted artist and puppet builder. Okay, so his puppet building talents might have to wait until another panel, but trust us, he’s great.
Amy Mebberson – One of our favorite artists from the Muppet comic book series, constantly busy creating memorable artwork for Disney and beyond!
Louis Henry Mitchell – Last, but most definitely not least, we’re excited to be joined by Sesame Workshop Creative Director Louis Mitchell, perhaps best known for his design work and realistic illustrations of the Sesame Street characters. He’s a legend around these parts, and it’ll be an honor to have him drawing with the rest of us!
In addition to the show, we’ll also have some trivia, prizes and giveaways, and maybe a few surprises!
As an exciting bonus, New York Comic Con will also be host to a puppetry panel featuring folks from the Muppet and Henson world, taking place in the same room immediately before ours. It’ll be like our very own Muppet track at Comic Con, and every Muppet fan should make a point to be there!
The Muppet Drawing Challenge will take place at New York Comic Con on Friday, October 10th at 4:15pm in North-Room 406.1. We’re excited to see you there!
Click here to get ready for the Con on the ToughPigs Discord!
by Joe Hennes – [email protected]
