Reply With QuoteI'm envious. I want to meet him, in facct I'd love to interview him for a project I'm trying to get done. but can't find his contact info at all. same with william george, but Norem was ALWAYS my favourite.
Hey fellow ORG'ers. I just felt like sharing a fun experience. There was a comic convention in Charlotte this weekend and EARL NOREM was there! I've never been to a comic convention before so I wanted to go... and Stan Lee was going to be there, but the clincher to make me do the 3 hour drive was seeing the guy that drew all those fantastic paintings for MOTU toys when I was little.
He seemed like a really nice guy and wasn't offended by my exuberance for getting to meet him which was great and he let me shake his super talented hand. He was there with his wife and sadly only had 4 prints at his booth two of which were MOTU (the rock warriors one and the 200X one he did). So I bought the 200X print and had him sign it which was super cool. Apparently he had some stuff up for auction but sadly I didn't make it to that due to a family thing... I would have loved to see what he had though! (I guess my only chance at getting a sketch of his is to deal with the Hollywood Heroes bunch but since they don't return my e-mails I think this print is as good as I'll get. Yes this is a passive aggressive statement lol.)
Anyway, just to recap, it was amazing to meet such an incredible artist. I remember when I was little I was so amazed by his art and it always stirred my imagination. I never thought I'd get to meet the guy whose pictures I had all over my wall when I was a kid.
So great.
Anyway, has anyone else met him? Wanna tell a story? Post it here!
I'm envious. I want to meet him, in facct I'd love to interview him for a project I'm trying to get done. but can't find his contact info at all. same with william george, but Norem was ALWAYS my favourite.
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For me, Earl Norem's art is what I have always wanted the figures to appear as in three-dimensional form.
Last edited by Alexxandar; July 31, 2012 at 07:12pm. Reason: Left out 'I'
I would love to get a print of his Sorceress and She-Ra picture where the Crystal Castle is behind them.
PRO CLASSIC POP TOY DESIGN ELEMENTS BEING USED IN MOTUC TO COMPLEMENT THE FILMATION DESIGNS!!!!
I FULLY SUPPORT THE INCLUSION OF ILLUMINA IN MOTUC!!!!!
IF YOUR SICK OF WAITING FOR A LIGHT TO APPEAR AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL, STRIDE DOWN THERE AND LIGHT THE BLOODY THING YOURSELF!!!!!!!
That's awesome!!
I actually got to meet him at Power-Con last year! he was such a cool dude! I got him to sign a few prints and some of those Super Golden Books I brought. We talked for a while and he was really friendly!
Here's the print I got signed:
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Awesome! Congrats on the print ;-)
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I got to meet him at Power Con last year, and you're right, he is a super nice guy and a class act. He told about his stint in World War Two. Real cool stories and just a sweet guy all around. I too would love to have more of his prints. I bought both the Rock man and 200x prints, but I want more, and I'm happy to give him more of my money!
That is just awesome. Glad to hear he's still around. There are a few He-Man artists who are no longer with us, including the (from what I can tell anyway) underrepresented and very talented artist for a bunch of the Super Golden books, Fred Carillo.
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I got the same print signed scar 1321. I wish he had the hordak cover from the magazine on a print, but still happy!
Oh, man! I would love to meet Earl Norem!
I was also fortunate enough to meet Earl Norem at HeroesCon (Charlotte, NC) in June! It was truly a phenomenal and surreal experience to meet one of the people responsible for bringing He-Man to life on the illustrated page. At the convention, there were many booths set up for contemporary (and seasoned) comic book artists, and their tables were flooded with attendees looking to get an autograph. As I made my way around the area, there was Earl with hardly anyone at his booth. I kept thinking what a shame it was that the attendees probably had no idea what he responsible for bringing to life (not only with He-Man, but the Conan franchise as well). I also got to shake his hand, and I was honored to have a few minutes with him to discuss his page projects with the He-Man series (Golden Books, the 80s magazine covers/posters). He talked about the challenges of making the toys look believable in his action scenes, and used the example of Skeletor's Spydor as being particularly challenging to bring to life. His face lit up when he talked about how he always runs into people around my age at the conventions that fondly remember his He-Man work. At 88 years old, he's still very sharp. I bought both of his prints for him to sign and I also managed to find his cover for the 2002 MOTU comic series at the convention, so he signed that for me too. He referenced that particular piece and talked about having to make all of the characters look like the newer toys at that time. All in all, it was really a moving experience to meet a He-Man legend.
Here are a few photos including one of me with him (anyone know how to rotate the vertical photos?).
Aw man Caricature80 that's sooo awesome! I definitely should have asked to get a picture with him! I must have caught him at a bad time since he didn't seem too chatty. What a great pic of you two!!!
I agree, it was pretty sad that he hardly ever had anyone around him while other artists had lines of like 4-10 peeps constantly since he is probably the most talented there in my opinion. It probably would have been helpful if he had what he worked on more clearly listed at his stand.
That's so cool that he talked to you about making toys look believable in action scenes, that was always something I was amazed he and the other MOTU artists were able to do on packaging!
Well, hopefully I'll attend another convention with him at it and I'll try a bit harder to strike up a conversation!
Seeing his empty booth is another reminder how people can be so caught up in the most modern incarnations of comics, books, movies, and television. He's an "old master" of his genre and no one seemed to notice. However, Stan Lee, who was also at the conference, was highly worshipped but that's probably because he's basically the Walt Disney of comics.Originally Posted by eternian phoenix
Eternian Phoenix, you are right though, if he had more of a description or titles of his work posted around him, it might have attracted more attention. A friend of mine who went with me to the convention was constantly finding old Conan (and Dracula) covers and going back to him over and over again to get him to sign. Earl told one funny story about how the kissing couple on one of the Dracula covers was actually him and his wife who posed for a photograph that he used to paint for the cover.
Sorry to hear that you didn't get to talk to him very much. Hopefully you'll get to see him again someday. When he and I chatted, it was Saturday of the convention and earlier in the day.
Longtime fan here, few posts however..I have many of Earls original pencils of He-Man and friends. His "rough" work was tighter than most other illustrators "finished" works. Ray/RISS851302.jpgSS851304.jpgSS851306.jpgSS851666.jpg
That's awesome, Johnny. How did you obtain them?
I love his artwork. I know he's mostly retired but I really wish he would do some new artwork for MOTUC. I could never get enough of his work.
We survived the long night.... MOTU Forever!
I never had the chance to really pursue art as a career but if there's anybody I can look back and say I wanted to be an artist like, it was him. I always got struck by the simple 'NOREM' in his art. Even as a 6 year old, I remember thinking as I stared at those awesome posters...wow, how cool it must be to be him
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Wow Ray thanks for sharing!!! Those are incredible!!! You should start your own thread so more people can appreciate those sketches.
I got a chance to meet Mr. Norem at Power Con. He really is a nice person to talk to. I'm happy to say that I'm in the Earl Norem, I shook his talented hands, club. What an awesome experience. He signed a rock warriors print for me. He told me, "now the ink is still wet so be careful". I was so excited that I ran over to my friend to show him. I didn't realize that as I was power walking towards him I was rubbing the autograph against my pants! Oh NO!!! I went back to Mr. Norem and he fixed it up with a smile for me. I'll never forget that.
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