I went downtown today to see an art exhibit opening at the Maquoketa Art Experience. This would not typically be something that would attract my attention. However, one of the main topics of the exhibit really appealed to my geeky side.

I also knew the artists of the works. James Tenney is the school resource officer for the school district where I work and we have a connection with our love of geek culture. Tenney was a big fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so I wore my TMNT shirt in his honor. The first he said to me today, after thanking me for coming, was “great shirt!” He then proudly showed me his TMNT socks, his Spider-Man tie and his Star Trek tie pin.

Officer Tenney has worked at the Maquoketa school for several years now. My friend Darin directed him towards me when he first started because of the similarity of our fandom. Darin had told me that Tenney was an artist, but I had no idea at what level he was.

Just the other day, we were both outside with a group of kids at the middle school and Officer Tenney called me over. There was a student of mine there with him. He asked me if she had been behaving herself lately, and when I said that she had been much better lately, Tenney pulled out a small box where he kept the small sketch pad and he sketched her a quick drawing of Batman. She was excited over the drawing, the doodle took about a minute or so to finish. I know he has done this for many other students, quickly sketching characters such as Wolverine, Spider-Man or such. He uses it as a great way to build that rapport with kids who are excited about the small treasure he provided them with.

It was that day that Officer Tenney told me about his opening on Sunday at the Maquoketa Art Experience from 2-4 and invited me to come on down and see his art.

What is cool is that he was sharing the exhibit with his youngest daughter, MJ. They told a sweet story about how their art studios at their home were right next to each other. MJ’s work was less superhero-like and more of the dragon/anime work.

Water color was the answer James gave me as his favorite medium to work in, but he had several other examples of other styles including oils, ballpoint pen and computer graphic.

James told me a story at a comic con where he had his work being displayed of an older gentleman who came over to him and, in referencing his work, pointed out the strong jawlines he had on display and then the man told James that his work was like “Jack Kirby’s work.” Even today, you could see how that comment lit James up. There is not much more of a compliment you can give to a comic art fan than to compare him to the “King.”

There was a wide variety of subjects on the walls and tables of the Maquoketa Art Experience. There were pictures of Spider-Man, Venom, Hobgoblin, Loki, Godzilla, Thor (as a baby), Ghost Rider, Transformers, Turtles, Daffy Duck, Gambit, Slimer from Ghostbusters, Joe Fixit, as well as many others.

The exhibit will be up for the months of May and June at the Maquoketa Art Exhibit. It is an impressive display featuring some of the great characters of the 20th/21st Century. Superheroes are the present day mythology and it is awesome that there are people who love them enough to keep the energy going.

You should stop down and see the full collection if you have some time over the next couple of months.

Some images from the show: