Eric Schock

Location: Artist Alley A140

For me drawing has always been something I had to do. My folks moved our family around often (Air Force) so I really couldn’t hold on to many friends. So I started to draw and read comics. Comics were a big thing for me. I knew any place I lived my favorite heroes would be only a few moments away. I dove into those pages reading everything I could, my mind was a sponge. I was learning what it was to be a comic artist. These guys didn’t do it for the fame or money; they did it for the love of what they did.

After we moved from Guam (where I was born) to North Dakota (where I picked up my sister), then to Florida my family finally settled in Arizona. I attended middle school in Tucson where I met my friend and fellow creator Adrian Cronin (I’ve known this guy for over 20 years).

At the age of 14 I decided to do something with my art. I began drawing my own comic books. They were 6 – 12 pages of characters that I created over the summer.

When I was in high school Adrian and I created a character named Darkstar…we found out later that an alien force sucked this idea out of Adrian’s brain and implanted it into 7 other people in the world that had a Darkstar. So, we killed the character off. After High school I moved to Phoenix, AZ to attend The Al Collins Graphic Design School, to learn what it would take to be a designer (mainly it’s all about the deadline). It was cool, but I wasn’t comics.

After a few years I moved back to Tucson, and started working as a freelance designer. While I made copies/and did desktop publishing for “the man”. A few of my coworker at the copy shop asked if I would be interested in working on an Ashcan comic book. I called Adrian to have him get involved with the project and Random Panels was created. We created a “Sell-Out” character by the name of Fantabulous. This series only lasted four issues and Random Panels fell into the sewers. (Just a side note, Adrian and I came up with the name for this book “RANDOM PANELS” during work on our first story)

Evil Robo Productions was created in 2000 with its first book called Ash-Tray Comics. It was a zero issue that gave a spotlight for my worlds and creations.

Sometime later I left Arizona to attend The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon Graphics in New Jersey. After Adrain suggested I take my career to the next level. Finally a school for what I was trying to do with my art. This is where I met: Sasa Bralic, Karl Savage, Dan Duncan, Don Kunkel, Karl Slominski, Shuan O’Neil, Andre Renaud Jr., Jason Boehm, and lots more! I was taught my trade from Mike Kraiger, Darren Auck, Toby Cypress, Adam Kubert, Andy Kubert, and “The Legend” Joe Kubert just to name a few.

After graduation I moved back to Tucson. Don Kunkel and I created “Evil Robo Presents”. It did not do well and I made a decision to scratch that idea and re-launch “Ash-Tray Comics”. I returned to my characters used in the original Ash-tray, namely The Bald Avenger, Maim, Smiley Guy, and Jim Haggin.