Anyone who has ever attended the old Pittsburgh Comicon has met Al Dorantes! Of course, the show is gone now, but I have great memories of it and up at the top of that list is meeting Al Dorantes.
For me, the best thing about the convention was the sense of family and support there. It was truly like no other show. Every year, you wanted to come back no matter what your sales were because you had such a great time with the people. Both creators and fans were always amazingly nice. But nobody was as generous and loyal as Al Dorantes. Al hosted the pre-show party in the hotel penthouse many years and it was the highlighted start of what was always a great weekend. He (along with Glenn Barbis Jr.) would get all the artist to draw and contribute to the Make-A-Wish Charity Auction and Al was always the first to offer you a drink!
Al was the mastermind behind Luchador Enterprises and I usually had the table setup across from him. So, over the years, I got to know his writing well and enjoyed his work greatly. On the flipside of being a nice guy, Al also has a no-nonsense attitude and calls it like he sees it. Both of those qualities comes across in his writing; from the gritty graphic novel, Retribution, to his children's book series like "Black and Gus", you know it's Al's work.
When it came time to gather creators for the second SENTINELS Anthology, I knew I wanted to have Al contribute. Luckily for me, he agree quickly and was the first to get his story on the third generation's main tough guy, Beatdown! Al's story is a classic throwback to the silver age of comics and fits in perfectly with the entire Anthology. I know everyone will love what he and artist, Gene Kelly, have done!
Please check out Al's children's book series at www.blackandgus.com
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