Katusha!

Katusha by Wayne VansantAnother great little moment from Heroes Con 2009 was meeting Wayne Vansant, writer and illustrator of The Nam, Two-Fisted Tales, Red Badge of Courage GN, and countless war comics. Wayne is from Georgia, and I don’t know if it’s southern charm, or simply Wayne’s warm personality, but he was a pleasure to talk to and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation as much as I enjoyed flipping through his comics and admiring his detailed pinups.

Our conversation began as I tried to peak at a pinup girl that Wayne had surreptitiously hidden underneath another illustration. Although Wayne did not have any other pinup girl work on display, I have an eye for beauty and couldn’t resist the temptation to look. Really pathetic, I know, but that’s just how this went down and I’m being honest. 😉 Wayne obliged me with a laugh explaining that I looked old enough to see, and soon we were sharing stories about World War II in which our not-so-distant ancestors fought so bravely.

Wayne is working on an epic graphic novel called Katusha about a Russian woman who joins the Russian army along with many other women during World War II. The eastern front saw the bloodiest battles history and the devastation of Russia’s resources and people. Katusha ultimately becomes a tank commander, something Wayne assured me could happen in the Soviet military machine of the 1940s. Wayne’s research and artwork are astounding. Anyone with any remote interest in this subject matter please check out his work and watch Katusha’s progress.

When I filled Wayne in on the Sovena Red comic project he was delighted as our interest in Russian history and culture came into play. I made quick and handy use of my new iPhone’s voice recorder to grab some snippets of Wayne’s wisdom concerning Russian superstitions that he had gleaned over the years. I can not wait to work them into the stories.

As more customers came up to Wayne’s table I offered to buy him a couple of adhesive cardboard stands to raise the eye-line of some of his great War pinup pieces rather than leave them flat on the table. I gave them to him and promised to return to talk more and buy more of his books. As the Sunday afternoon flew by so quickly I ran out of time and we did not cross paths again. It’s funny the people that you end up remembering the most fondly are sometimes those you least expect. :-)

7 thoughts on “Katusha!

  1. Has Wayne Vansant found a publisher for Katusha yet? Is there any way I can contact him? I really want to see Katusha published someday.

  2. I don’t know. I have not seen Wayne since the Heroes Convention a couple of years back. I hope the project has moved forward.

  3. Great news – KATUSHA BOOK ONE is available now in English digital format! Go tohttp://www.granddesignonline.net/available-properties/katusha/ for links to buy KATUSHA.

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