Here’s Andrew Charipar’s take on Stallone as “Cobra” and a humorous story that goes with it. I got this sketch from Andrew at the 2009 FX con. Although I regularly visit Andrew’s blog, I’d never met him. A few weeks before FX, Andrew posted that he’d take requests for sketches to have ready for anyone attending the show. I put in for the Stallone character of his choice. A few days later, Andrew posted the Stallone piece you see here and said I could pick it up at FX.
The weekend of the show arrived and I found Andrew’s table. He had art available for sale, his sketchbook, and comics spread out. A small group of folks were around his table ordering or picking up sketches. I waited my turn, stepped up and said, “Hi. I think you have a Cobra for me.” A puzzled look crossed Andrew’s face and he replied, “I don’t think so.” Now I was the one looking confused. Andrew asked, “Are you sure you requested a Cobra from me?”
Now I know that he’s drawn the piece — I’ve seen it on his website, but I can tell by the look on his face that he has no idea why I would think that he’s drawn me a Cobra sketch. I go on, “My name is Craig Zablo. I requested the sketch through your website and you decided to do Stallone as Cobra.” It’s like a light went on and Andrew replied, “Oh, a Stallone Cobra! My buddy and I were just talking about GI Joe and we thought you were referring to ‘that’ Cobra.” Andrew then proceeded to pull out the piece you see above.
Andrew’s a cool guy with very reasonable prices for his sketchbook and originals. Check out his blog and give him some props.