Pensive Mischief

Comicon San Diego - 2011

2011-07-18T06:52:00.002-04:00

UPDATED! Second Marvel signing added!

Here's my schedule for San Diego. I'll be at the con the whole weekend.

THURSDAY, 21 JULY:

6:00 - 7:00: Marvel Comics, Booth #2329. Signing NAMOR, 1 MONTH 2 LIVE, and whatever else you've got.

SATURDAY, 23 JULY:

1:00 - 2:00: Dark Horse Comics, Booth #2615. Signing the brand-new one-shot CONAN: THE MASK OF ACHERON, based in part on the new film.

4:00 - 5:00: Marvel again, Booth #2329.

If you see me, ask me about TEACH, LIMBO, Botfriend, and FABLES FOR JAPAN. Don't ask me about JOHN CARTER or Spider-Man -- I can't tell you yet!

Conventions

2011-05-31T16:35:00.003-04:00

Here's where I'll be sailing to, this year:

JULY 20-24: Comic-Con 2011 San Diego! The big one, the mob scene, the one that separates the literati from the Wookies. I got a nice hotel room this year, so there was no turning back.

AUGUST 11-14: Chicago Comic Con / Wizard World. I'm an official guest at this one, baby...haven't been to Rosemont for several years, and I'm really looking forward to it. From the looks of the guest list, I'll be the meat in the Bruce Campbell/Morena Baccarin sandwich (rrrowr!).

OCTOBER 13-16: New York Comic Con. The big new kid on the block, and the best con of all if you're looking for Brits still hungover and cigarette-deprived from their transAtlantic flights. Fun, except I have to commute home every night.

Details on appearances & times to come. Hope to see you all out there -- and bring the kids. You can trade them in for old issues of KOBRA!

Signing @ Jim Hanley's Tonight - 6-8 PM!

2011-05-25T07:10:00.002-04:00

NAMOR #10 will be out. And if you think you know who that old guy on the cover is...

...well, just read the book. We're building up to the big climax in #11, and penciller Carlos Rodriguez has really hit his stride.

Here's the details on the signing:

Jim Hanley's Universe
4 West 33rd St.,
New York, New York
(opposite The Empire State Building)

Meet creators Stuart Moore (writer of this week's Namor #10), Reilly Brown (penciller of this week's Amazing Spider-Man #662) and Khary Randolph (penciler of the new series Charismagic) EXCLUSIVELY at Jim Hanley's Universe in New York City, Where Fans and Creators Meet!

And on NAMOR #10:

NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT #10
Written by STUART MOORE
Penciled by CARLOS RODRIGUEZ with SERGIO ARINO
Cover by PHIL NOTO
"The Fire Down Below" continues! After last issue's shocking death, Namor sets out for revenge against Commander Krang and his lackey, Selach. But as Selach prepares to destroy both New Atlantis and the X-Men's island Utopia, Namor must accept help from an unexpected ally. The wild card: a mysterious cloaked figure who knows an awful lot about Namor. But who is he?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99

The Winners

2011-01-25T15:13:00.003-05:00

Update 1/31/11: The prizes have all gone out except for Cameron Rogers'. Send me your mailing address, Cameron, and I'll get it right out to you.

To recap: I offered to give away two copies of NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT #5 to the people who could tell me, in 50 words or less, why they like Marvel’s underwater mutant. It took me longer than I expected to pick the winners…because the entries were all great.

So I decided to dig deep and give away FOUR copies instead of two. Here are the winning entries:

Kieran Maddy Wisser had a great take on Namor: “I'll be Frank, I like Namor because I'm a big fat nerd from Hawaii who likes the character because he's my two favorite things in one -- he's from Atlantis, my favorite mythical city, and so much of his character involves science and mysticism, usually in a way that keeps you wondering how they thought of this guy! He's not a particularly unique character, but he still stands out from the crowd of other water/fluid based superheroes and villains. Thank you for reading this message, and good luck!”

Rob Gorman won over this Jersey boy by saying: “I like Namor because he is the king of his domain (kind of like I & a lot of others feel). Also, I like that I have heard various pronunciations of the word Mariner over the years (my favorite being from stan lee in the history of marvel comics documentary). Finally, the fact that he went after sue richards reminds me of the Situation from Jersey Shore. lol!”

(Mariner’s too hard to pronounce. That’s why we went with Mutant.)

Leila Mae Moghimzadeh proved what I’ve always known: Namor’s got a lot of female fans out there. “After seeing some fan-girl spam posts on Namor, I couldn’t stop. His punch-in-the-face egotism and blunt remarks are some of my favorites. I also enjoy his romantic interest in Sue Richards. Nothing intimate will ever happen except in a “What If…” circumstance, but that’s what I enjoy about it.”

And Cameron “Battlechop” Rogers had the most inspiring story of all: “Subby's been my fave for the better part of 35 years and oddly enough, he was probably one of the subconscious reasons I got into submarines when I joined the Navy! A mutant anti-hero with a bad attitude in an age of square-jawed do-gooders; what's not to like? Plus, there's something to be said for a dude in a Speedo who can duke it out with the Hulk and occasionally come out the winner!”

There sure is, Cameron. Thanks.

Honorable mentions to go: Alex Hopf, David Vey, Lawrence Woods, and Dale Walker, who gets extra points for mentioning the film “Goldie and the Boxer.”

All four winners will receive NAMOR #5, plus a little extra or two from my comp pile. Congrats!

And just so we all don’t forget: on sale tomorrow, January 26th…

NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT #6. Namor Goes to Hell, Part One!

NAMOR #5 - Free!

2011-01-12T13:54:00.005-05:00

Update: The competition is closed. I'll reveal the winners by next Monday the 24th!

So NAMOR THE FIRST MUTANT is my ongoing monthly comic book from Marvel. It tells the continuing saga of Prince Namor of the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, one of Marvel’s oldest and most fascinating characters. Issues #1-4 introduced the Aqueos vampires in a story called ROYAL BLOOD, which tied in loosely with the X-Men’s CURSE OF THE MUTANTS storyline.

Issue #5 tells the story of three women in Namor’s life, all connected by an ancient Atlantean amulet. It spans a period from 1940 to the present day, and it features lovely artwork by Ariel Olivetti (modern sequences) and Brian Ching (1940s scenes), with a stunning cover by Mike Mayhew. It’s called FACES, a title that refers to the different faces of Namor himself: Destroyer, Lover, Egotist, and Hero.

I’m very proud of this issue. But it was released as it was over the holidays, and it got a little lost in the shuffle. So I’m giving away two copies of it to readers who haven’t yet jumped on the Namor bandwagon.

All you have to do is tell me, in 50 words or less, what you like about Marvel’s underwater mutant. It can be funny, sincere, tragic, or wildly inappropriate. I’ll pick my two favorite responses and mail you NAMOR #5, along with another extra or two from my comp collection.

You can post your entry here; send me a message on Facebook; or email it to stuartcomics@mindspring.com . Just do it by MONDAY, JANUARY 17th.

Simple, right?

If you get the book and like it -- or if you’re already reading it -- please spread the word. NAMOR is continuing -- I’m about to start work on issues #9-12 -- but the market is crowded right now, and sales could be better. Issue #6, by me and Ariel, begins the story arc NAMOR GOES TO HELL, which I guarantee isn’t what you expect. It comes out on January 26th. And the trade paperback of ROYAL BLOOD will be available in February.

As Namor would say: Imperius Rex!

My Very Own Rocky Mountain High

2010-11-03T17:14:00.009-04:00

So here's a little story about the origins of a loser. It's a bit embarrassing, so I don't tell it too often. But it's topical today, so here you go.

The Associated Press just finally declared Democrat Michael Bennet the winner of a very close Senate race in Colorado. According to Talking Points Memo:

"Bennet had been written off by some after he struggled to win the party primary in August. He faced a strong challenge from Republican Ken Buck, who was backed by Tea Party members, and Bennet appeared destined to become one of this cycle's Democratic casualties. But in the end, helped by a series of gaffes committed by Buck, Bennet managed to pull it out."

I hadn't been following this race, but the name Ken Buck rang a bell with me. Took me a little while to remember why.

When I was an underclassman at Princeton University, the people running the main university dining halls decided, at some point, to crack down on people taking food out of the halls to eat later. Apparently there was an epidemic of students just dying to smuggle tough, gristly chicken wings out for delayed consumption. Or maybe it was those awesome "omelets" made out of melted tires. Who knows.

Nobody really took this edict too seriously -- except for one door-checker. One tireless defender of law and order. A big man with big principles named Ken Buck.

My friends and I thought the policy was ridiculous, and we'd seen this future Tea-Party lunatic stop people and make them return half a slice of pizza before exiting the hall. So we decided to Get Away With Something. We didn't care about the food -- as noted, it wasn't really worth stealing. We were just in a mood.

So I stood outside the dining area, by a disused turnstile, while a friend of mine handed off a small paper bag of...donuts? hot dogs? Who knows...to me from inside. And as I headed toward the door, I heard a commanding, stentorian voice ring out:

"YOU! STOP!"

So I ran. And what did Ken Buck -- the man who, decades later, would refer to an alleged rape as "buyers' remorse" -- do? He did what any sane, rational right-wing nutjob would do. He left his post and took off in pursuit. He chased me down Nassau Street and around the corner into Holder Courtyard, where he tackled me to the ground. Then he held up my illegally acquired bag of inedible gruel and shouted triumphantly, "WHAT'S THIS?"

Now, this is the embarrassing part. Old Ken was quite a bit stronger than I was, and he managed to drag me all the way back to the dining hall in an iron grip. The university officials were kind of douchebags about the whole thing, too. I guess they felt they had to back up their man. I was friends with Ken's boss in the dining hall, however, and one of his fellow football team members. Both of whom later went to him and basically said, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Whatever it was, I guess it's still wrong. And I haven't heard the name Ken Buck since that day; I had to check Wikipedia to see if he was the same jizzbucket I remembered. Lo and behold, he was.

I don't know where you are or what you're up to now, Ken old buddy. Well, I guess I do know where you are: Colorado, not Washington. But as you pursue your tireless quest to improve the moral fiber of America, if you should happen to stumble across my humble little blog posting...well, please just take this final sentiment in the spirit it's offered:

I hope today hurts like a bitch.

New York Comic Con - October 8-10

2010-10-07T11:31:00.002-04:00

I'll be there the whole time! Here's where:

FRIDAY - SUNDAY: Artist Alley table #M-7. Signing everything and selling copies of SHADRACH STONE.

Friday 6:00 - 7:00 PM: IDW, booth #2115. Signing copies of STAR TREK CAPTAIN'S LOG: PIKE, along with illustrator extraordinaire J.K. Woodward.

Sunday 2:00 - 3:00 PM, Marvel, booth #1843. Signing SPIDER-MAN: BACK IN QUACK (out this week!), NAMOR (second printing cover below - also just out), ONE MONTH TO LIVE, and hell, anything really. CAP'N QUICK & A FOOZLE, probably, if you put it in front of me.

And if you can't make it -- or even if you can -- check out this free webcomic by me and the incredible Rick Geary, just up on Act-I-Vate. I've loved Rick's work for years...working with him was (wait for it) legen

dary.

SIGNING WEDNESDAY 8/25 - JIM HANLEY'S UNIVERSE

2010-08-24T06:58:00.002-04:00

Last-minute notice: I'll be at Jim Hanley's Universe in Manhattan this Wednesday evening, signing copies of the brand-new NAMOR #1. Also signing: Jonathan Hickman, Dan Slott, Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, and Nick Spencer. Come on out and make it look like I have fans (or at least friends!).

Details:

Wednesday, August 25th
6:00 PM

Jim Hanley's Universe
4 West 33rd St.,
New York, New York
(opposite The Empire State Building)

NAMOR THE FIRST MUTANT #1 -- this week!

2010-08-23T17:20:00.002-04:00

Yes yes bad bad blogger not keeping up flog flog flog but SPECIAL BULLETIN:

NAMOR, THE FIRST MUTANT #1
by me and Ariel Olivetti
Cover by Jae Lee
From Marvel Comics
$3.99 (extra-sized first issue only - later issues are $2.99)
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25TH, 2010

Preview here and here.

I'm loving the hell out of writing this arrogant bastard, and I hope you'll give us a shot.

Spider-Man / Howard the Duck -- September!

2010-06-12T13:56:00.002-04:00

So I've been very remiss about keeping up this blog, and will write more about the new NAMOR series (starting in August!) soon. But for now, here's the full solicitation for SPIDER-MAN: BACK IN QUACK, out in September. Yes, I wrote the solicitation copy.

SPIDER-MAN: BACK IN QUACK #1
Written by STUART MOORE
Pencils by MARK BROOKS & JOE SUITOR
Cover by SKOTTIE YOUNG

Presenting two of Marvel's finest: Spider-Man and ... Cynical Duck (TM)? Yes, Howard the Duck's brain has been thoroughly scrubbed, his hard-edged humor carefully dulled down for maximum demographic acceptance. It's up to Peter Parker to set the duck straight -- but does the world prefer Howard this way? Guest-starring the villainy of SOOPhI, the utter cluelessness of Mayor J. Jonah Jameson, and the unnerving eroticism of "Swizzle," SOOPhI's whip-wielding corporate spokeswoman. So wrong it's ... well, no, it's still wrong, courtesy of Stuart Moore (NAMOR) and Mark Brooks (YOUNG AVENGERS). Plus: a tiny-size Man-Thing backup feature by Stuart Moore & Joe Suitor (MARVEL BREAKOUT)!

40 PGS./One-Shot/Rated A ...$3.99

More at the link, including an absolutely gorgeous Marko Djurdjevic mural poster for the covers of the regular Spidey books.

The New Awesome

2010-04-21T08:25:00.003-04:00

Out today: CAPTAIN AMERICA: WHO WON'T WEAR THE SHIELD?, a never-to-be-repeated one-shot featuring:

The gritty new adventures of FORBUSH-MAN, by Jason Aarons and Mirco Pierfederici!

The trippy debut of DOCTOR AMERICA, by Matt Fraction and Brendan McCarthy!

And my own contribution: The collectors' item first app of THE GOLDEN AGE DEADPOOL, with art by Joe Quinones!

It's a heartbreaking story of two World Wars and one madman who coughs a lot. Plus it makes fun of some of some revered old Captain America stories.

See a preview of all three stories here. Then go to your local comic shop for the main feature. Don't wait for the iPad version...all your friends will laugh at you. Laughter. It hurts, doesn't it?

C2E2 in Chicago: Signing This Weekend

2010-04-14T10:05:00.003-04:00

Quick note: This weekend is C2E2, the big new Chicago comics convention from Reed Exhibitions, who've been running the great New York show for the past few years. I'll be signing at the Marvel Comics booth, #758, on Saturday, April 17th, from 2:00 to 3:00. Come on by with copies of CLOAK & DAGGER, CYCLOPS, WOLVERINE NOIR, or hell, GIANT ROBOT WARRIORS if you've got it.

Or just say hi and ask for the ultimate secret of the comics industry. I've never given it away before, but you never know. This might be the day.

Go here for Marvel's full signing schedule.

More on C2E2 here.

Cloak & Dagger #1 - this week

2010-03-29T16:07:00.003-04:00

Wednesday, March 31st brings CLOAK AND DAGGER #1, the first solo -- well, duo -- title for these fan-favorite Marvel characters in almost twenty years. This self-contained one-shot grows out of C&D's recent appearances in the X-Men titles, but no prior knowledge of the X-Men, Cloak, Dagger, or American comics (its history and practices) is required.

I had a blast dropping these characters into a new era, and Mark Brooks did an AMAZING job on the art, aided by Walden Wong on inks and Emily Warren's luminous color work.

You can read the first seven pages here or here!

Go here to hear me blather for fifteen whole minutes about C&D, writing, and editing!

More and earlier blog info here!

The solicitation reads:

CLOAK AND DAGGER #1

COVER BY: Mark Brooks
WRITER: Stuart Moore
PENCILS: Mark Brooks

Marvel’s most-requested duo return in this all-new one-shot, spinning out of X-MEN: NATION X! Cloak -- dark, brooding teleporter. Dagger -- deadly, shining mistress of light. Having quit the Dark X-Men, Cloak and Dagger find their partnership strained as they struggle to fit in among the mutants of Utopia. But when a new menace targets Cloak, Dagger must make a fateful choice for both of them. Guest-starring the X-Men, and written by Stuart Moore (WOLVERINE NOIR) with stunning art by Mark Brooks (YOUNG AVENGERS). One-Shot/Rated T …$3.99

While You Were Sleeping

2010-03-13T15:22:00.002-05:00

Or while I was, anyway: Two projects slipped out last week with stories of mine in them. First off is the oddball BREAKING INTO COMICS THE MARVEL WAY #1, which features an Iron Man story by me and Joe Suitor (sample above). I just sat down and read the whole book, and it's an unusually even-quality anthology -- lots of good one-off stories by Marc Guggenheim, Brian Bendis, and various other writers you might know, paired with artists you might not. A really nice sampler of the Marvel Universe, with stories set both past and present, and a lot of pages for $3.99.

Also this past week: STAR TREK ALIEN SPOTLIGHT volume 2, from IDW, collects my TRIBBLES book -- pitting the little fuzzy guys against Klingons, alongside a decidedly non-Starfleet human crew -- along with various other glimpses into the weirder corners of the Trek cosmos. I've got a new TREK book coming in June -- more on that soon.

Two Short Subjects

2010-02-13T15:15:00.003-05:00

Two short pieces upcoming from Marvel Comics, for your amusement:

BREAKING INTO COMICS THE MARVEL WAY #1 is an interesting book. It's a mixture of short stories and how-to features. Each of the stories pairs an artist discovery (courtesy of Marvel talent guru C.B. Cebulski) with an experienced writer. My story, featuring Iron Man, is a collaboration with Joe Suitor -- and, unlike most of the creative teams in the book, we've already worked together, on a Spider-Man/Man-Thing one-shot last year.

"Icarus's Wings" is a story about the responsibility Tony Stark feels for the incredible technology he's loosed on the world. I threw a hell of a lot at Joe, and he came through beautifully, as seen above. For more information on the book, go here.

On sale March 3rd. Only $3.99 for 56 pages, too.

Then...for something much lighter...

WHO WON'T WEAR THE SHIELD? is a humorous one-shot designed to show just how many Marvel characters are totally unsuited to bear the standard of Captain America. There were a lot of characters to choose from...but somehow, I got Deadpool. I hear you groaning...Deadpool again? But this isn't regular Deadpool. It isn't Lady Deadpool, Dogpool, or the Deadpool Corps. It's an ALL!NEW! Deadpool whose very existence will make you smack your head and say "Of course!" then run off to scrub your brain with battery acid. I wish I could tell you WHAT Deadpool it is, but I can't. Yet. Maybe soon.

Anyway, enjoy the Forbush-Man cover by Gerard Parel. And even if my little Deadpool story doesn't thrill you, look who else is in the book: Jason Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis, and Matt Fraction. That's got to be worth four bucks.

On sale April 7th. Funny solicitation copy, and a closer look at that cover, here.

Wednesday: Pedal to the Metal with Deadpool!

2010-02-02T16:08:00.003-05:00

It's finally here! The comic book that'll make trucking HUGE again! That cover says it all, hopefully. If not, there's a five-page preview here. Be there, good buddy!

Update: Great interview with artist Shawn Crystal here.

Wolverine Noir trade paperback - April

2010-01-25T16:54:00.002-05:00

Soliciting now, on sale April 28th: The softcover collection of WOLVERINE NOIR by me and CP Smith. I don't know for sure, but I assume this will be in the smaller, digest-sized format used for X-MEN NOIR. It's a nice little package, but I recommend shelling out five bucks more for the premiere hardcover. It's available now, and beautiful.

CP's one of the most powerful artists I've ever worked with. We're currently talking about doing something else together soon...fingers crossed.

X-MEN ORIGINS: CYCLOPS: This Wednesday!

2010-01-11T16:55:00.002-05:00

Wednesday, January 13th brings the one-shot X-MEN ORIGINS: CYCLOPS, showing the path that brought Scott "Cyclops" Summers to his present post as leader of the mutant community. Featuring previously "deleted scenes" from Cyclops's life, including his dramatic first meeting with a real live Evil Mutant.

Written by me, art by Jesse Delperdang, colors by Matt Hollingsworth, letters by Rob Steen.

You can read the first seven pages free online here, here, or here.

Deadpool Team-Up Interview/Preview

2010-01-06T17:19:00.002-05:00

Up on Marvel.com, with LOTS of new art by the amazing Shawn Crystal. A sample from the interview:

""Deadpool is like a two-year-old: easily bored and totally obsessed by any new, shiny object," explains Moore. "He puts on a hat and vest, picks up a used paperback called 'The Totally Wicked Book of C.B. Slang (Bicentennial Edition),' and decides he's a trucker. He doesn't bother with the details, like learning what a double-clutch is. And he thinks U.S. Ace is his best buddy, his brother of the road. What in the world could go wrong with all that?"

DEADPOOL TEAM-UP #896 featuring U.S. ACE: on sale February 3rd!

March: Cloak & Dagger!

2010-01-01T12:48:00.003-05:00

Out in March from Marvel Comics: CLOAK & DAGGER #1, a one-shot by me and Mark Brooks! Here's the basics:

Written by STUART MOORE
Pencils & Cover by MARK BROOKS

Marvel's most-requested duo return in this all-new one-shot, spinning out of X-MEN: NATION X! Cloak -- dark, brooding teleporter. Dagger -- deadly, shining mistress of light. Having quit the Dark X-Men, Cloak and Dagger find their partnership strained as they struggle to fit in among the mutants of Utopia. But when a new menace targets Cloak, Dagger must make a fateful choice for both of them. Guest-starring the X-Men, and written by Stuart Moore (WOLVERINE NOIR) with stunning art by Mark Brooks (YOUNG AVENGERS).

40 PGS./One-Shot/Rated T+

PRICE: 3.99
IN STORES: March 3, 2010

I'm really excited about this one. Short interview here, talking about the X-Men connection, sex, and the characters in general. A sample:

"[Cloak and Dagger] have a close bond that's gradually grown into a full-blown romantic partnership. But that's a dangerous path for them, because they're linked in so many different ways. When one of them grows restless, it brings up all sorts of problems and conflicting emotions. They're still barely out of their teens -- in many ways, they're like lovers who married very young, and now have to deal with everything that means."

Wednesday: Wolverine - Under the Boardwalk

2009-12-08T14:35:00.002-05:00

One week late but worth the wait: WOLVERINE: UNDER THE BOARDWALK, a one-shot psychological thriller by me and Tomm Coker (DAREDEVIL NOIR). This one started with a simple idea: What if Wolverine, who's been around for a while, met up with a woman he'd had a brief fling with forty years ago? Of course, it's not as simple as catching up over tea. There's the matter of a beat-down that Logan never got over, and a body buried somewhere under the...yeah, you get it.

Tomm Coker really drew the hell out of this one, aided by the moody colors of Daniel Freedman. On sale Wednesday, December 9th from Marvel Comics, only $3.99 for a full 32 pages of story and art. The perfect holiday gift for someone you only want to spend four dollars on.

Oh, and there's an eight-page preview here.

Signing Update: Thursday, December 3rd

2009-11-30T13:45:00.002-05:00

Please note, all aficionados of fine graphic literature: Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, new comics will arrive in stores on THURSDAY this week -- and so our end-of-the-year blowout signing at Jim Hanley's Universe has been moved as well. Join us from 6 to 8 PM at the midtown Manhattan location, 4 West 33rd Street, just around the corner from the Empire State Building's main entrance. Don't be distracted by those pushy guys trying to herd you onto NYC tour buses as you pass the ESB. THEY WANT TO KEEP YOU AWAY FROM YOUR COMICS!

At this writing, it looks as though I won't have WOLVERINE: UNDER THE BOARDWALK out yet as previously scheduled. But there'll be plenty of WOLVERINE NOIR (see above) and other ephemeral picto-fictions for me to sign, some of them floppy with staples and some hardbound with glue and board, like the Vikings used to make.

I'll also have little previews of upcoming titles, including the sublime SHADRACH STONE and the ridiculous DEADPOOL TEAM-UP #896 FEATURING U.S. ACE. And I promise I'll learn how to draw a laughably bad Wolverine head by then, so you'll get an instant collectable with every purchase.

Also in attendance: Fred Van Lente, David Gallaher, Steve Ellis, and new addition Neil Kleid. So come on by. Don't make us look bad in front of Neil, okay?

Puttin' the Hammer Down!

2009-11-17T16:30:00.004-05:00

February 2010 brings a book I'm very fond of: DEADPOOL TEAM-UP #896 featuring the incredible return of the CHARACTER YOU DEMANDED -- U.S. Ace, Marvel Comics' very own trucker supreme!

Now, that sentence might have confused you. Don't be scared. Here's everything you need to know:

1. U.S. Ace was originally called U.S.1. He was an original character created as a tie-in to a toy truck. The truck is gone, but the legend lives on.

2. U.S. Ace/1 was created to cash in on the CB radio/trucker craze. Sadly, the CB craze peaked around 1976. U.S. didn't come along until 1983. By the end of his twelve-issue run, they had no idea what to do with him, so they sent him into outer space. Somehow this made sense back when Reagan was President.

2a. Despite this, the last issue had kind of a nice fill-in art job by Steve Ditko. Go figure.

3. I took on the challenge of making U.S. relevant to the modern era. (Heh -- got through THAT sentence with a straight face!) Like a lot of working men, his life hasn't worked out quite the way he hoped. So now he's back on Earth trying to make it the best he can...which unfortunately means taking jobs from...

4. ...his brother, the demonic Highwayman. You may have seen the Highwayman recently, when he fought Ghost Rider. If you didn't, don't worry about it. This issue contains all you need to know about him. He runs a trucking company. How EEEEVIL!

5. It's just possible you haven't managed to collect the entire run of DEADPOOL TEAM-UP #1-895. If so, it's your own fault. Call up Mile High Comics or Bud Plant and start badgering them. Rudely.

6. This comic book also has killer raccoons, dated slang, and an original country song. Oh, and Deadpool.

7. It's the funniest thing I've ever written, and a lot of the credit goes to Shawn Crystal. Shawn has done some issues of the regular DEADPOOL monthly lately, but he's totally pulled out the stops here. I'll post some art as soon as I can. You won't believe Deadpool in a trucker hat with a CB radio.

There. All clear now? If not, come by my signing at Jim Hanley's Universe on December 2nd and ask me to explain. (Not rudely.) Or just buy the damn book in February!

December 2nd: Signing @ Jim Hanley's Universe

2009-11-06T11:25:00.007-05:00

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM: I'll be signing copies of WOLVERINE: UNDER THE BOARDWALK, a new one-shot by me and the amazing Tomm Coker. Note tantalizing sample panel above.

Also on hand will be the X-MEN NOIR crew of Fred Van Lente and Dennis Calero, celebrating the release of the second X-MEN NOIR series. I'll also be signing copies of the WOLVERINE NOIR hardcover, and Tomm Coker (not present) is the artist of DAREDEVIL NOIR, so it all fits together holistically. Like a beautiful mandala. Of Noir.

And finally, David Gallaher and Steve Ellis of HIGH MOON fame will be there, signing their brand-new HULK: WINTER GUARD one-shot. So it'll be a big New York comics jam with just a slight holiday flavor.

Jim Hanley's Universe is at 4 West 33rd Street in Manhattan, just around the corner from the Empire State Building main entrance. Details on the signing can be found on their website.

(Above: From WOLVERINE NOIR by me and CP Smith, now available in a beautiful hardcover edition for only $19.95.)

Out Now: Wolverine Noir Premiere Hardcover

2009-10-22T13:55:00.005-04:00

I've really got to start paying attention to trade paperback release schedules...out this week (i.e., yesterday) is the WOLVERINE NOIR collected hardcover edition, with story by me, art by the incredible CP Smith, and color by the equally incredible Rain Beredo. Featuring the tragic tale of Jim Logan, P.I., as he plies his trade in New York's skid row Bowery district in 1937.

Update: And beautiful alternate covers by Dennis Calero -- including the image seen above.

Update update: The book also features my original script for issue #1!

We're really proud of this one. A few comments from here and there, carefully edited to make us look good:

"This new title from the Marvel noir run is very entertaining. The art is impressive, providing for a very unsettling and never comfortable tone."
-Alex Rodriguez, Comics Bulletin

"this wasn't a story I want to read in chunks over a few months. I want to know what's coming next. You win, Wolverine. I'm intrigued...The art in Wolverine Noir is gorgeous."
-Nina Stone, The Factual Opinion

"Absolutely incredible, a perfectly paced story, with brilliant artwork all the way until the final last panel. The next wave of Noir books have big shoes to fill, and a long shadow to walk in. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, YOU MUST PICK UP THIS SERIES!"
- Adam Chapman, Comixtreme

WOLVERINE NOIR - Premiere Hardcover. $19.95. Buy it. It might just save your life.*

*It won't save your life. But buy it anyway.

January - X-Men Origins: Cyclops

2009-10-21T14:36:00.004-04:00

Now soliciting: X-MEN ORIGINS: CYCLOPS, written by me with art by Jesse Delperdang and cover (above) by Adi Granov.

I grew up with Scott (Cyclops) Summers, and I was always drawn to his brooding, sometimes over-serious nature. This one-shot tells Cyke's story from childhood through his early years with the X-Men. But it's not just a retelling of previously-depicted events...we show Scott growing into his role as X-Men leader, and his evolving, complex relationship with both Professor Xavier and Magneto.

X-MEN ORIGINS: CYCLOPS stands wholly alone, and is designed to serve as an introduction to this central X-Men character. But it also, very deliberately, plays off the dynamics going on right now in UNCANNY X-MEN, where Cyclops must make hard decisions as new leader of the entire mutant community, even when those decisions bring him into direct conflict with Professor X. That throws a lot of earlier stories into a whole different light, and it made this project much more interesting to write...without seeming artificial or superimposed (to me, anyway).

But really, all you need to know is that he shoots force bolts out of his eyes. A lot, actually.

On sale January 13th from Marvel Comics.

Amazing Spider-What Now?

2009-10-08T16:32:00.003-04:00

This one totally sneaked up on me: Marvel recently published the collection AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: FAMILY TIES, which features not one but two Spidey stories by yours truly.

"Bridge and Tunnel" is a little New York love letter with sharp, kinetic art by Val Semeiks. But the much longer tale is "Fear Itself," in which Spider-Man teams up -- if that's the right phrase -- with the monstrous Man-Thing. Featuring lovely art by Joe Suitor that manages to look like watercolors and animation art at the same time. A small taste:

The book also features work by too many cool people to mention, including "The Amazing Spider-Ma'am" by Abby Denson and Colleen Coover. Go grab it for $14.99 now.

December - Wolverine: Under the Boardwalk

2009-09-27T10:49:00.003-04:00

On December 2nd, Marvel Comics will release WOLVERINE: UNDER THE BOARDWALK, a one-shot by me and Tomm Coker, the multitalented artist of the recent DAREDEVIL NOIR.

Wolverine's been around for a long time, and as I conceived this story, I started wondering what would happen if he met up again with a woman he'd been involved with, say, forty years ago. She's older; so is he, but it doesn't show as much. I also barely remember visiting Atlantic City when I was very young, before the gambling came in, when it was a washed-up beach town whose glory days were immortalized in the game Monopoly, and whose biggest industry at the time was salt-water taffy. Put the two ideas together, and what you get is...well, it's sort of the tale of a long-lived mutant's midlife crisis. With claws, of course.

UNDER THE BOARDWALK is a very "grounded" crime story -- no X-Men or alien menaces from the stars. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) Tomm Coker absolutely drew the hell out of it. He's developed a mixture of tight figure work and photorealistic backgrounds, and he does it as well as anybody in the business. The action scenes are great, but the quiet panels are the ones I find really haunting. Here's just a small taste.

WOLVERINE: UNDER THE BOARDWALK. Color by Daniel Freedman. $3.99 for 32 pages of story. Soliciting now.

Out Today: Wolverine Noir #4

2009-07-29T09:47:00.002-04:00

Concluding the dark 1930s miniseries by me and CP Smith.

Above: a screengrab from the Marvel Hotline trailer, where I sum up the series pretty well, I think. Go there and spend one minute forty seconds in Logan's and my world.

I should do some San Diego wrapup, but I'm still exhausted, especially after The Comic Book Club last night (which was awesome, as always). For now, big wet kisses to all the girls and boys I saw last weekend.

San Diego '09!

2009-07-20T14:22:00.005-04:00

It’s the Happiest Time of the Year once again! I’ll be roaming around the convention for the entire time, but here’s where you’re guaranteed to find me:

Friday, July 24
6:30 - 7:30 PM
Room 3
Panel - Four Color Reality: Making Comics Relevant to Readers Across Cultures. How can the comic book industry connect with changing audiences—not just of diverse races and backgrounds, but of different cultural and national origins as well? Moderated by Jeff Yang (editor-in-chief, per seSecret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology). Panelists include Dwayne McDuffie, Gail Simone, Gene Yang, Jai Nitz, and me. I might even have free copies of The 99 to give away. So come out and show some love to the token white guy!

Saturday, July 25
11:00 AM - 12:00 Noon
Booth #2001
Ait/PlanetLar - Signing with Ryan Kelly. Come by and pick up a copy of our political satire GIANT ROBOT WARRIORS, and see what the superstar artist of Local and New York 4 did before all that Vertigo stuff!

Sunday, July 26
12:00 Noon - 1:00 PM
Booth #2429
Marvel Comics - Signing. Bring your WOLVERINE NOIR comics and ask me what I’m doing next with Marvel. And remember: It’s not a complete collection unless you have copies with all the variant covers signed by the writer.

(Artwork: Private Detective Jim Logan, then and now, by the astounding CP Smith. From WOLVERINE NOIR #4, on sale July 29th.)

Me @ Comic Book Club 7/28/09

2009-07-15T14:44:00.003-04:00

Announcement: I'll be appearing at the Comic Book Club Live, a New York-based comedy/talk show, on Tuesday, July 28th, 2009. I've done this show before -- it's funny as hell, and the hosts really keep things moving. And it's only five bucks American!

I'll talk about the final issue of WOLVERINE NOIR, shipping the following day, and probably reveal dark secrets about upcoming projects from Marvel and elsewhere. (Snikt.) Not sure who else will be guest-starring this week, but I can tell you that the show happens less than 24 hours after I get home from Comicon San Diego. So odds are I'll be babbling like an ape.

Follow the link for more info, but here's the salient:

Tuesday, July 28th
8:00 pm

The Peoples Improv Theater
154 West 29th Street, 2nd Floor
New York City

Come on out or else Wolverine gets it!

Last Teaser

2009-06-23T17:03:00.002-04:00

From WOLVERINE NOIR #3:

"Oh my.

"How long have you been here?"

"A while."

Secrets revealed: Wednesday, June 24th

Written by Stuart Moore
Art by CP Smith
Color by Rain Beredo

Preview: Wolverine Noir #3

2009-06-20T15:29:00.003-04:00

First six pages are up here. Scroll WAY down to "W"!

This issue reveals the shocking past of Private Detective Jim Logan -- which is a bit different from the Marvel Universe version. Here's a bonus image by the amazing CP Smith and colorist Rain Beredo:

On sale Wednesday, July 24th.

My Wolverine, Garth Ennis's, Sam Kieth's

2009-06-18T07:44:00.003-04:00

First off: WOLVERINE NOIR #3, by me and CP Smith, comes out next Wednesday, June 24th. Here's a small taste:

Which makes it particularly good timing that C. Fitzpatrick just posted a question to me, in the comments section of a previous entry in this blog. He starts off by saying nice things about NOIR (thanks very much) and continues:

I do however, have a question I hope you can take a little time to answer, despite it not really being related to NOIR. I want it to be known I’m not some frothing at the mouth fan boy but I was just a little pissed when I recently learned you were editor of Garth Ennis' PUNISHER during Wolverine's infamous guest appearance.

I'm just trying to understand why you allowed (if I’m wrong about your responsibilities or role as editor on PUNISHER, please correct me!) Garth to present an intentionally bad and a really vicious parody of Wolverine? Surely this could only be harmful to the character.

C. is referring to the second volume of the Marvel Knights PUNISHER series, issues #16-17 (2002), which featured such images as this:

and this:

Ouch, non?

Okay -- first off, yes, I was the editor who approved the above images (smirking all the way).

Second, I obviously like Wolverine quite a lot. I'm actually surprised that, considering how many stories the character appears in every month, I can always find something else to do with him. I've got a one-shot coming up featuring the regular, in-continuity version, and I'm very proud of that. More on it soon.

But I've always been a big-tent kind of guy. The PUNISHER book of that period had a very different flavor from the later MAX version: It was often satirical, mixing violence with dark humor. Every time a "normal" super hero wandered into Frank Castle's world, he wound up out of his depth and humiliated. Daredevil and Spider-Man fared only slightly better than Wolverine.

Garth Ennis's view of super heroes can be seen pretty clearly in the excellent BOYS and HEROGASM, which have a lot of fun at the costumed characters' expense. But the Marvel Knights Punisher wasn't just about Garth's worldview; it was about Frank Castle's. The Punisher has no more respect for Spider-Man or Wolverine than he would for an ordinary guy who strutted into the South Bronx in a white suit, looking for trouble. That's been a pretty consistent part of the character since his inception.

So this portrayal of Wolverine was somewhat filtered through the Punisher's own prejudices. But aside from that: I've always believed there's room for different versions of a major company's signature characters. Another title I edited for Knights was Sam Kieth's WOLVERINE/HULK miniseries. It wasn't quite so, uh, dismissive of Logan, but it was definitely odd:

Sam's version of Wolverine was exaggerated, comedic, and touching. Garth's Logan fit into the PUNISHER title, and it made us laugh. Would either version have been appropriate for a long run on a comic book called WOLVERINE? Probably not. But as separate projects, I don't think they diminished the character. They just provided more options for readers.

By the way: I'd forgotten that those two PUNISHER issues were drawn by Darick Robertson. Darick now collaborates with Garth on THE BOYS, but shortly after PUNISHER, he drew a well-remembered run on WOLVERINE with Greg Rucka. Darick likes to poke fun at heroes -- but I can assure you that he's at least as big a WOLVERINE fan as any of us.

I appreciate the question, C., and the friendly spirit it was asked in. You may not agree with my answer, but I hope it clarifies my view of things -- which, I should stress, is not necessarily that of the other creators mentioned, or of Marvel Comics' management past or present.

And once again, thanks for the chance to plug WOLVERINE NOIR #3:

One More from Wolverine Noir #2

2009-05-17T08:18:00.001-04:00

Calling Private Detective Jim Logan:

On sale this coming Wednesday. More details in the entry below.

Next Week

2009-05-15T10:55:00.003-04:00

WOLVERINE NOIR #2

Script by me
Art by CP Smith
Color by Rain Beredo

May 20th

Wolverine Noir: One More Time

2009-04-15T06:20:00.004-04:00

Out today! Go here for an interview where I act as though I've never talked to a cell phone before. But the interviewer did a nice job, and the preview pages are very nicely chosen.

Wolverine Noir Preview

2009-04-11T15:12:00.002-04:00

Go to Comic Book Resources for a seven-page preview -- plus covers -- of issue #1.

On sale Wednesday, April 15th, at your finer graphic story emporiums.

This Week: Tribbles!

2009-03-23T17:50:00.004-04:00

Behold, Terran, on the thrice-cursed viewscreen! 'Tis the STAR TREK ALIEN SPOTLIGHT: TRIBBLES, by myself and Mike Hawthorne, from the Denebian slimeworms at IDW Publishing!

Featuring: a hapless freighter crew! The dregs of the Klingon Empire! And a world of tribbles!

Read the online preview!

Catch up on the making of!

Read Mike Hawthorne's crazy-busy art blog!

If there's a fuzzy, trilling, blob-shaped hole in your entertainment world -- and you know there is -- then get to your local comic shop this Wednesday, March 25th!

(Caution: transporting between star systems may violate Starfleet regulations.)

More Wolverine Noir, Shadrach Stone, etc....

2009-03-18T12:32:00.002-04:00

Nice podcast here where, on no sleep, I manage to respond to the very sharp Tucker Stone's questions without sounding like I don't even know where I am. Covers a lot of ground.

Wolverine Noir

2009-03-16T14:59:00.002-04:00

Marvel.com has a first look at the opening of issue #1. Art by CP Smith, colors by Rain Beredo.

On sale April 15th -- the perfect item to spend that refund check on. And trust me: Private Eye Jim Logan knows all about hard times.

New York Comic Con!

2009-02-05T08:53:00.004-05:00

I'll be wandering around the postapocalyptic landscape (or as they call it: exhibit floor), tracking down old friends and bargains on torn copies of KILLRAVEN. But here's where you can find me:

Friday, February 6th, 2:00 - 3:00: Penny-Farthing Press, booth #1513. I'll be signing and selling copies of PARA and ZENDRA, and debuting the ten-page ashcan edition of my new project SHADRACH STONE.

Saturday, February 7th, 2:00 - 3:00: Penny-Farthing Press, booth #1513. Same as above, except the ashcan will be a day old by then and thus slightly less fashionable.

Sunday, February 8th, 11:15 - 12:15: "The Multicultural Mask," room 1A17. Panel with Perry Moore (HERO), Greg Pak (PLANET HULK), DC editor Jann Jones, and moderator Jeff Yang, columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and editor of SECRET IDENTITIES: THE ASIAN AMERICAN SUPERHERO ANTHOLOGY. Here's the description:

"Over the past decade, publishers and creators have made an aggressive push to diversify the pages of the comic books -- eliminating antiquated, stereotypical representations of race and sexuality, while adding characters whose backgrounds and identities are a truer and certainly richer reflection of our social reality. In the process, some fan-favorite heroes have met with untimely ends and come back with new, different, and multicultural identities and others have become suddenly open about their sexual orientations. These changes have been met with both loud applause and scathing criticism -- but is radical integration of the comics really necessary? And if so, what's the best way to make comics look like America (and the world) while preserving cherished characters and already overstretched continuities? This panel will bring together creators who stand out as pioneers of the new inclusiveness in comics to talk about what works, what doesn't, and why it matters -- from both a cultural and economic perspective."

So I'll be talking about FIRESTORM, EARTHLIGHT, and THE 99. Miss it not, multicultural true believers!

This Week: Creature Feature

2009-02-02T17:33:00.004-05:00

I think that cover pretty much says it all. Half The Swarm, half Starsky & Hutch (the original, of course!). Featuring gorgeous art by Alberto Ponticelli. Alberto's currently drawing the hell out of Vertigo's UNKNOWN SOLDIER, but this is a sample of his more stylized, caricatured work. Nobody in the business draws a 'fro like Alberto.

And a hat tip to Marvelous Mike Raicht, who put the whole thing together. In stores Wednesday, except for the stores that got it last week. For some reason.

For a nice review, with more details on the other stories, go here.

Now Soliciting: Wolverine Noir

2009-01-24T09:31:00.002-05:00

Coming in April: WOLVERINE NOIR, a four-issue miniseries by me and artist CP Smith.

The brief for the Noir line was to reimagine Marvel's characters as non-powered characters in a dark, crime-oriented setting. WIth Wolverine, that was easy. To me he's always been just a tough guy with knives; the only difference here is that the knives aren't built-in. Instead, he's a down-and-out P.I. in 1937, running the detective agency LOGAN & LOGAN with his partner, Dog. Everyone thinks they're brothers...but the truth is much more tangled than that. When Dog disappears on an errand for the beautiful Mariko Yashida, Logan's dark past comes bubbling back up in a paroxysm of guilt and violence.

CP Smith and I have worked on two Wolverine stories before, both collected in the trade paperback BLOOD AND SORROW. He's one of the most powerful stylists in comics right now, and this is probably his best work to date.

And check out the variant cover by Dennis Calero, artist of X-MEN NOIR:

This Week: With Iron Hands trade paperback

2009-01-20T17:09:00.002-05:00

Wednesday, January 21st: The trade paperback collection of my recent IRON MAN storyline, WITH IRON HANDS, hits comic book stores. A terrorist from Tony Stark's past collides with a bizarre threat from his present, with chaotic results. Art by "top guns" Roerto de la Torre, Carlo Pagulayan, and Steve Kurth.

Man, I miss S.H.I.E.L.D. already.

And don't forget to visit our new SHADRACH STONE blog. Now with added sex!

Shadrach Stone - production blog

2009-01-14T14:54:00.004-05:00

I've just done a "soft launch" of the production blog for SHADRACH STONE, a new miniseries by me and Jon Proctor. Go there now & let us know what you think. Both Jon and I should be posting frequently as the series rolls along.

I'll be promoting the book at the Penny-Farthing Press booth at New York Comicon, too. Details to follow.

Spider-Man: Fear Itself - out this week

2009-01-06T11:53:00.003-05:00

Only $3.99, featuring Spider-Man and Man-Thing -- with 34 pages of story and 21st-century neo-animation art by the amazing Joe Suitor (see below).

This interview will tell you as much as you want to know without actually reading the comic.

Previous blog entries, with more sample art: here, here, and here.

Buy it! (Then let me know what you thought.)

Update: Eight-page preview here. (Nine, if you count the character-descriptions page.)

Much more Spider-Man: Fear art!

2009-01-01T13:46:00.001-05:00

En francais.

Spider-Man: Fear Itself (redux)

2008-12-29T09:36:00.002-05:00

A bit late on my part, but there's a nice writeup here on the special, coming January 7th.

As a bonus, the Marvel writer has provided covers of previous Spidey/Man-Thing teamups.

Tribbles

2008-12-20T08:39:00.007-05:00

So Andy Schmidt, newly-minted editor of the IDW Star Trek line, was sitting in my "office" at Comicon San Diego* and said, "They want me to do more Alien Spotlights. They want a Tribbles Special, for God's sake!"

So I said, "I want to pitch you the Tribbles Special."

Tribbles are hard to spotlight because they don't do much except trill, breed, purr, and die just in time to fall all over Captain Kirk. But they mean well, and as soon as I came up with the idea of a whole planet full of the things, the story clicked into place.

Andy (pictured above) liked the idea, and so did Paramount. It was a tricky script to write because there are basically three groups of characters, all with their own character arcs, packed into 22 pages. There's a human freighter crew that really doesn't look for trouble the way Starfleet does; a Klingon crew that's a bit more rundown than the unstoppable Imperial fighting forces we're used to seeing; and, of course, the tribbles -- billions of them. I like the way it came out, and Mike Hawthorne (THE UN-MEN) is doing a great job on the art...not too cartoony, not too straight. I'll post some soon.

STAR TREK ALIEN SPOTLIGHT: TRIBBLES -- or, as I call it, "The Trouble with Humanoids" -- comes out in March. I hope you'll give it a try.

Photo nicked from here.

*Not on your life. Buy me a drink next year.

Amazing Spider-Man Family #3

2008-12-16T10:53:00.004-05:00

I've got a five-page story in this issue, out tomorrow (Wednesday). It's called "Bridge and Tunnel," which will mean something to the New Yorkers and -- he abruptly realized -- probably sound kind of dull to everyone else. Spider-Man must escape from the remote hell that is: Brooklyn! (And remember, he's from Queens.)

Above: a couple of uninked panels by Val Semeiks, who did a terrific job.

Update: Also in this issue is the debut of The Amazing Spider-Ma'am, written by my very cool neighbor Abby Denson and drawn by Colleen Coover! Details here.

Sunday Thoughts

2008-11-16T12:01:00.003-05:00

- We're getting ready to launch a really cool behind-the-scenes production blog on one of my new projects.

- I may have books tied in (vaguely) to two of next year's biggest films. Neither title has been announced yet.

- I'm just finishing up a WOLVERINE script that might be the best thing I've written. That one hasn't been announced, either.

More on all as it happens!

Iron Man: With Iron Hands trade paperback

2008-11-09T16:52:00.002-05:00

This one slipped by me: In January, along with my one-shot special SPIDER-MAN: FEAR ITSELF, Marvel will collect my recent Iron Man storyline into the one-volume trade paperback WITH IRON HANDS. Two threats -- one from Tony Stark's past, the other stemming directly out of his present role as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. -- converge on Iron Man as he leads his elite Alpha Team on a mission to stop an Eastern European nuclear terrorist.

This will, sadly, be the final volume of DIRECTOR OF S.H.I.E.L.D. When regular writers Daniel and Charles Knauf were unable to return to the book, Marvel decided to end the title, replacing it with the upcoming WAR MACHINE book and allowing the new INVINCIBLE IRON MAN series to carry on the red and gold tradition. In any case, I loved this story -- I tried to give S.H.I.E.L.D. its own military protocols and jargon, while keeping Iron Man himself in constant motion. The way I see the character, if he's not using both his brain and his technological strength every waking moment, he gets antsy. He needs to be doing good, as he sees it...even though things don't always work out as planned.

IRON MAN: DIRECTOR OF S.H.I.E.L.D. - WITH IRON HANDS is scheduled for release the week of January 18, 2009. Here are the first two pages of the story, as published this past year in IRON MAN: DoS #29.

Some Things That Happened

2008-11-05T09:21:00.002-05:00

• The wonderfully gracious and talented Colleen Doran notes THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY Volume 1's recent award, and says unduly nice things about me.

• The also-gracious Tim O'Shea posts an interview with me and Joe Harris about Volume 2.

• And, uh, something else nice too.

Award for Nightmare Factory Volume One

2008-11-02T14:46:00.004-05:00

Just got the news: The first volume of THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY, published last year, just won the prestigious International Horror Guild Award for "Best Illustrated Narrative."

NIGHTMARE FACTORY is a class act. Congratulations to my talented cohorts: Colleen Doran, Ben Templesmith, Joe Harris, Michael Gaydos, Ted McKeever, and editor Heidi "My Name Is Bruce" Macdonald. UPDATE: And, of course, Fox Atomic ed-in-chief Eric Lieb, who started it all and whom I stupidly forgot earlier.

Thanks to Tim Lucas's Video Watchblog for the info, and congratulations to him for his own award.

Nightmare Factory @ MacNally Jackson

2008-10-30T12:37:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow -- Halloween -- night: Joe Harris, BIll Sienkiewicz, and I are scheduled to sign THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY at McNally Jackson Books, 52 Prince Street between Lafayette and Mulberry, New York, New York. Details here. It looks like the signing will start around 6:30, and then I'll do a reading from a novel in progress sometime after 7:45.

Update: Yikes -- it looks as though I'm now one of three featured readers for the evening. I'll be presenting an abridged prologue from BREUCKELEN, a prose novel in progress.

And here's another teaser: Four pages from "Sect of the Idiot," one of my two stories in NMF v2. ("The Chymist," the other story, is previewed in the entry directly below this one.) This is a quiet sequence, but artist Nick Stakal really caught the creaky, old-hotel feel the story called for.

Reminder: Hanley's Signing Tonight

2008-10-29T11:58:00.002-04:00

Tonight at 6:00 - 8:00: Me, Joe Harris, and Bill Sienkiewicz at Jim Hanley's Universe, 44 West 33rd Street in Manhattan, signing THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY vol. 2. More details here and here.

To give you a taste: Here are the first four pages of "The Chymist," one of the four stories in NMF v2. Adapted from the original story by Thomas Ligotti, by me and artist Toby Cypress.

Spider-Man: Fear Itself

2008-10-28T21:15:00.002-04:00

Now soliciting: SPIDER-MAN: FEAR ITSELF, a one-shot special by me and Joe Suitor.

In this story, Peter Parker must face his greatest fear -- which, not incidentally, brings him into conflict with the Man-Thing, Marvel's resident swamp monster. And whatever knows fear experiences rapid, inexplicable combustion upon contact with the Man-Thing's leafy appendages.

You can see the gorgeous cover above by Mico Suayan. But Suitor, the interior artist/colorist, is the real star of this one. He's got a wonderfully stylized, fully realized take on all the characters -- including Spider-Man:

Man-Thing:

Even little Peter Parker!

SPIDER-MAN: FEAR ITSELF is on sale January 7th, 2009. I'll have a short preview to show at my signing, tomorrow night at Jim Hanley's Universe -- details here.

Nightmare Factory Signings

2008-10-25T10:12:00.004-04:00

I'll be out signing the new NIGHTMARE FACTORY book this week with Joe Harris and the legendary Bill Sienkiewicz, at two locations for the spooky season:

Wednesday, October 29th, 6:00 - 8:00: Jim Hanley's Universe, 44 West 33rd Street, Manhattan (around the corner from the Empire State Building). I'll bring some previews of other projects to this one, too. Stick around afterward for my friends Garth Ennis and Russ Braun, signing their new book Battlefields from 8 to 10.

Friday, October 31st, 6:30 onward: McNally Jackson Books, 52 Prince Street between Lafayette and Mulberry. This signing is part of McNally Jackson's Literary Halloween Party, which features costumes, drinks, signings, and lots of readings. I might even read a selection from an upcoming novel myself. I did this last year with Colleen Doran, for Nightmare Factory Volume 1, and it was an amazingly great way to spend Halloween...sitting, drinking beer, signing books, looking at costumes and listening to scary stories. McNally Jackson is one of the few good-sized indy bookstores left in New York City, with a great selection and really nice staff.

Ain't It Cool News has a nice review of NMF Vol. 2 here.

So come on out. What? Do you have something better to do that night?

(Art from "The Chymist" by Toby Cypress, one of my contributions to the book.)

Termite Blues!

2008-09-17T17:11:00.003-04:00

This is one of the weirder projects I have coming out: December will see the second issue of CREATURE FEATURE from Th3rd World Studios -- and I've got a story in there called "Termite Blues." Or, to use its full title: "Humphrey and Gutts in: Termite Blues -- in COLOR!"*

As themed anthologies go, CREATURE FEATURE is pretty self-explanatory. Editor Mike Raicht, whom I've known since the Marvel Knights days, set up a great assemblage of talent and basically told us to have fun. I took the concept a disco-step to the side and wrote an homage to '70s cop shows, which I love, as long as I don't actually have to sit through a lot of full episodes.

We were lucky enough to get Alberto Ponticelli as artist. I've worked with Alberto before, and he's an unsung talent in this country. Look for that to change in October, when UNKNOWN SOLDIER by him and the also-underrated Josh Dysart launches from Vertigo. For now, all I can say is: Nobody draws junkies, 'fros, and giant insects like Alberto.

So for thirteen pages, travel back in time to 1978, when two crazy cops took to the street in search of giant insects and the deadly new ghetto drug called "Advil." It's fine, baby. SUPER-fine!

*I don't know if the story is actually in color.

Wolverine Noir

2008-09-16T17:39:00.004-04:00

Another project announced at the recent Diamond summit: WOLVERINE NOIR, by me and CP Smith. CP and I have collaborated on two Wolverine stories before; I love his graphic, photorealistic style. Those two previous stories -- "The Healing" and "The Package" -- are collected in the trade paperback WOLVERINE: BLOOD AND SORROW.

The panel above is from "The Package," and features a very different Wolverine than you'll meet in the Noir miniseries. The assignment here was to recreate Marvel characters in a more realistic, crime-story milieu; our book is set in the 1930s, in New York's Bowery district, at the time one of the country's worst skid rows.

WOLVERINE NOIR is scheduled for early 2009. I hope to have some art to show soon.

That Old Work for Hire Thing

2008-09-16T08:38:00.008-04:00

This is one of the strangest arguments for creator-owned comics I've ever read. I don't know Noah Berlatsky, but he's obviously a keen observer of the comics industry. Still, his comparison with the music industry is a little misleading. I get checks from both Marvel and DC on an irregular basis for past work done with both of them. "Work for Hire" does not automatically mean "one check and then nothing, ever, for your work again." Both major companies have structures in place to pay for reprints down the line, though neither system is perfect.

But that's a side issue. The main thrust of this piece seems to be that creator ownership is desirable because it allows the creator to keep tight control of the "brand" and make sure the characters stay consistent and on-point. I'll grant that there have been creators (Berke Breathed comes to mind) who've exercised very tight control over the licensing of their popular characters over the years. But traditionally, major entertainment companies have had an enormous interest in keeping characters "on-model" and consistent, to the point of having entire quality-control departments to ensure this. If it isn't happening in one or two cases in the comics industry, that might be a glitch in the machinery, not an overall trend.

And I can certainly cite you independent comics that went off the rails -- for a large part of their readership, anyway -- as they went along. All respect to the creators' right to do whatever they want with their creations -- that's the whole point here -- but CEREBUS is probably the biggest example. FISH POLICE was a little rough toward the end, too. I'm sure there are others.

More to the point, though: Why do we care about branding anyway? Don't we want creator-owned work because it leads to original, inspired comics, not because it means the Joker will look the same every time he appears?

As a writer and occasional editor, I wish the market were more open to original properties. It takes a hell of a lot of work and time to get a creator-owned project going these days. But work for hire can be sharp, clever work too. It all depends on what you bring to it.

Thanks to Dirk Deppey for the link.

Shadrach Stone - Update

2008-09-15T15:31:00.004-04:00

I blogged just about a year ago about SHADRACH STONE, a political science-fiction thriller I've been putting together with artist Jon Proctor. It's a story about the biggest liar in the world, and how a traumatic, world-changing event opens his eyes to a multitude of realities, and the unique part he plays in the scheme of things.

Now I'm pleased to announce that we'll be doing the book with Penny-Farthing Press, who published my title PARA a few years ago. I couldn't be happier -- they're a great bunch of people and their production work is absolutely the finest in the industry. A class outfit all around.

Penny-Farthing announced the title at the recent Diamond summit in Baltimore, and both they and I will have more details to come. But for now, here are a few more teaser images. Jon and I have been working on this for a while...I promise it's going to be something special.

Nightmare Factory - Back For More!

2008-09-14T15:31:00.004-04:00

The new volume of THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY is out, featuring four stories adapted from the works of cult horror legend Thomas Ligotti. My two stories are:

"The Chymist," illustrated by Toby Cypress
"Sect of the Idiot," art by Nick Stakal

There are also two other pieces:

"Gas Station Carnivals," by Joe Harris and Vasilis Lolos
"The Clown Puppet," by Joe Harris and Bill Sienkewicz

As with the previous volume, this is a gorgeous package courtesy of HarperCollins and Fox Atomic Studios -- lovely paper, lush color throughout. My two collaborators really did a fantastic job, and you can't go wrong with the rest of the talent on the book.

Heidi Macdonald, editor of the volume, talks about it here . You can read a couple of early reviews here and here.

We'll be doing promotion around Halloween -- I'll post a schedule when I have it. And I've got more projects to announce soon, so watch for this blog to get a lot more active (he said, filled as always with fresh hope).

It All Comes Together

2008-08-19T16:22:00.003-04:00

The final issue of my IRON MAN arc, "With Iron Hands," comes out this Wednesday. It's issue #32, and I'm very proud of it. This storyline was a little bit of a slow build, but this is where the two plot threads come together, and I really like the way Carlo Pagulayan and Steve Kurth pulled off the art in this last chapter.

Comments welcome on the conclusion of the story arc. And hopefully I'll be able to announce my next Marvel projects soon...things are moving along nicely.

Edit: A six-page preview of the issue can be found here.

The Big Spoilery MAD MEN Post

2008-07-30T19:05:00.006-04:00

Back from San Diego. Yes, Comicon huge, aisles crowded, Hollywood Comics SciFi Marvel Virgin Jamie Bamber. Will blog more later on that, maybe.

But right now I have to write about the season premiere of AMC’s original series MAD MEN. My wife Liz and I blew through the first-season DVDs a couple of weeks ago, and loved it. She watched the second-season opener while I was at Comicon, and was disappointed. It seemed slow and plotless. A lot of critics agreed.

When I got home, Liz and I watched the episode again together. Several minutes into a discussion afterward, we Figured It Out.

I’ve checked the usual spots like The House Next Door and TV.com, and nobody seems to have gotten this. Once you realize what’s going on, every scene in the episode reads in a different context, with at least one more level of meaning -- sometimes several.

Warnings: This is rather long. If you don’t want to know, go no further. If you’re in the middle of watching season one, DON’T read this; it will spoil many things. And if you haven’t watched the show at all, none of this will make any sense to you. The various relationships that have been built up among the characters are too tangled and complex to explain here.

Disclaimers: This was a team effort. The reasoning here is as much Liz’s as mine, though any awkward phrasing is all mine. We are both professional writers, but we have no contacts or inside information on the show -- this was all written from viewing the aired material itself.

If you do decide to read this, please tell us what you think, especially if there are details we’ve missed. But I can tell you this: We combed through the entire episode after figuring this out, and there’s no way we’re wrong.

Proceed at your own risk…

--

--

Don Draper is having an affair with Peggy. Not a frivolous, Sterling-Cooper-style romp; but a true love affair rooted in mutual respect and interests.

Evidence/implications:

• When Don is late to the creative meeting, the guys gossip nastily about the possibility that he had a baby with Peggy, and that he’s sleeping with her -- hence her rapid rise in the company. This is clever on two fronts. First, it brings up the Don/Peggy connection, only to dismiss it quickly from the viewer’s mind. Second, it’s in line with the way Don is always viewed at Sterling Cooper: Everyone thinks he’s up to something -- usually an affair -- but they rarely get the details right. He’s as likely to be meeting his estranged brother, or having a physical, as he is to be rendezvousing with a woman. (See Lois, below.)

• Peggy asks Lois where Don is, and Lois responds with the barest innuendo about Don’s absence. Peggy starts to walk away, stops, and then turns on Lois harshly, telling her never to make such remarks about Don. On the surface, this seems to be the loyalty of an employee (Peggy) who owes her boss a lot because of her promotion. It also looks like Peggy lording it over the secretaries, whose ranks she’s escaped.

But it’s actually something very different. Peggy knows how the secretaries gossip about their bosses; she’s been there. She realizes that, given time, Lois will find out about her and Don, just as she herself learned about Don’s affair with Midge last season. So Peggy takes this opportunity to scare the hell out of Lois, hoping to intimidate her enough that Lois won’t spill any information casually, as (again) Peggy did to Joan last year.

• When Joan subsequently reprimands Lois, there’s also something else going on. The key to Joan is: She acts like an queen bee, but her true motive is almost always concern for other people. (Remember last season, when Peggy -- beginning to show her own true colors -- said to Joan, rather clinically: “I just realized -- you’re trying to be kind.”)

It’s not clear how much Joan knows about the Peggy/Don affair, but she clearly knows something. What she’s doing in this scene is warning Lois, very strongly, away from any confrontation with Peggy. The surface justifications are that Peggy is now “Miss Olsen” -- a higher-level employee than the secretaries -- and that Lois’s crying in the break room was inappropriate (a weak excuse for so harsh a scolding). But really, Joan knows that Peggy is linked very closely with Lois’s boss, and that no good can come to Lois from a conflict with Peggy.

• Why does Don have a lock installed on his office door? It seems like a funny throwaway, but it’s not. For the first time ever, Don is having an affair within Sterling Cooper.

• The creative staff is understandably obsessed with age. Roger and Duck are on a crusade to bring in younger blood; Paul in particular has a target painted on him. Don is also worried about this, as evidenced by his physical. Yet he seems unconcerned about the prospect of young people coming to work at Sterling Cooper, dismissing them as unimportant.

That’s because Don’s concern is not professional, but personal. Both Don and Peggy pointedly speak their ages (36 and 22) aloud in the course of the episode. Don’s midlife crisis is not about work, it’s about love.

Incidentally, keep an eye on Paul, who has a bad meeting with Don during the episode. Paul doesn’t seem to know about Don and Peggy yet; but as Joan told him last season, “You have a big mouth.”

• Further to the above: The guy reading poetry in the bar says that his book wouldn’t be to Don’s taste. The guy is significantly younger than Don; Don subsequently buys the book as a way of trying to communicate with a younger generation -- again, not for professional but for personal reasons. More on this below…

• After Betsy encounters her former roommate, Don tells Betsy the woman is clearly a “party girl.” Betsy asks him how he would know, clearly referring to Don’s extramarital activities. When Don replies, “Do you think I’m stupid?” he’s really saying: “Do you think I’d see a call girl? My affairs are much deeper than that.”

(That scene plays oddly on the surface, though. “Do you think I’m stupid?” is a clear insult to Betsy, but she doesn’t really react to it.)

• Don’s impotence with Betsy -- very well played, incidentally -- is not a result of stress and age, though it is linked to his midlife crisis. Nor is it because he’s tiring himself out with another lover; we’ve seen him juggle multiple sexual partners before. It’s because, for the first time, he’s in love with someone else.

• In the elevator, Don reacts strongly to the crude talk about a random secretary. This is unusual behavior for him -- he’s clearly accustomed to this kind of chatter in the halls of Sterling Cooper. The reason: He’s picturing people talking about Peggy that way and, again, feeling self-conscious about her age. “Get three stingers in her, she’s like a little girl.”

• The key to all this is the scene where Peggy and Sal pitch the airline ad to Don in his office. This scene would be a dead giveaway in any other show; the interaction between Don and Peggy is clearly flirty in nature. But the environment of Sterling Cooper is thick with inappropriate sexual innuendo, so -- after a full season of trysts gone wrong and boundaries constantly broken -- we don’t initially register the importance of the conversation.

When Don reacts poorly to the initial ad mockup, Peggy starts to argue with him, and Sal starts to warn her away -- but Don cuts him off. At this point, Sal seems to physically retreat from the scene. The reason: He of all people recognizes coded sexual behavior coming into play, and knows he should not be in the room. But he has no reason to leave, so he simply shrinks back.

Don and Peggy then engage in a weird, flirty exchange of ideas and slogans -- an exciting and disturbing process that displays both the romantic and creative bond between them. She challenges Don, telling him the ad is “exactly what we talked about.” “It’s obvious,” he replies. “I’m uninvolved.”

Peggy describes the ad as “Businessmen who like short skirts. Sex sells.” Don rebukes her and, in the guise of a lesson in ad creation, tells her that their relationship is much more than that. “That’s what they tell you,” he says, anticipating the staff’s reaction to their affair. “You are the product. You -- feeling something. You. Not sex.”

Then Don pulls the ad slogan out of her, prodding her to assert herself (“Is that a question?”). Ultimately, she provides a response that’s both aggressive and submissive at the same time, and also points directly to the age difference between them: “What did you bring me, daddy?”

• After which, he mails her the book.

--

Obviously there are a lot of questions here. Did Don help Peggy with the baby situation? Does he know who the father is? Is the baby even still alive? And, of course, what is Roger Sterling’s status?

In addition: Both Don and Peggy are deeply damaged characters. Their affair may be pure of heart, but that doesn’t mean it’ll ultimately work out, or work out to their mutual benefit.

But we think all the pieces above fit, and provide a suggestion of where this exciting and provocative show is headed.

What do you think?

San Diego '08

2008-07-21T13:11:00.005-04:00

Light schedule for me this year: I've got a lot of work going, but a lot of my publishers have scaled down their Comicon presence for economic and other reasons. So mostly I'll be roaming the floor, and I might even get to a couple of panels this year. That'd be nice.

I will be signing at the Marvel booth, #2429, on Sunday from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Bring IRON MANs or other things with my name on them. I might have a preview or two to show, too.

If you see me on the floor, ask me about SHADRACH STONE by me and Jon Proctor (promo illustration above). We should have something big to announce on that front, very soon.

New Avengers: Fireline

2008-07-16T14:28:00.004-04:00

I don't usually blog much about these because they're not available in normal retail outlets. But people ask about them, so...

The latest NEW AVENGERS special created specifically for the U.S. military is FIRELINE, a tale of Spider-Man, Iron Man, and a surprise guest star fighting forest fires alongside the National Guard in California. Oh, and the Incredible Hulk, too...though I'm not ready to reveal whether he's on the heroes' side or the fire's. Art is provided by Cliff Richards, who did such a nice job on the previous volume (THE SPIRIT OF AMERICA) and who's known for his work on BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER.

This is the third of these books that I've written for Marvel and the AAFES, which distributes them to our soldiers around the world. Earlier issues were written by Paul Jenkins, Brian Bendis, and Robert Kirkman. They're basically in-continuity one-shots teaming up super heroes with various branches of the military; they're tricky to write, but it's satisfying that people seem to like them. Sgt. Michael Dean has put up a nice website about them here.

FIRELINE is available to domestic servicemen and women in July, and overseas in August.

Oh, and don't forget: IRON MAN #31 is out today.

Old Nightmares and New

2008-07-14T08:31:00.003-04:00

The Nightmare Factory, a book of graphic adaptations of the works of Thomas Ligotti, has been nominated for an International Horror Guild Award in the category of Illustrated Narrative. Congratulations to all my co-conspirators on this book -- particularly my own collaborators, Colleen Doran and Ben Templesmith, who not only illustrated one of my two stories in the book but is actually nominated twice in this category, once for NMF and once for his own lovely Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse.

The Nightmare Factory Volume 2 comes out in September. The page above is from the story "Sect of the Idiot," adapted by me and the very talented artist Nick Stakal. Other contributors include Joe Harris, Toby Cypress, Vasilis Lobos, and Bill Sienkewicz. Heidi Macdonald, our ace editor, has more details here.

I'll post more art as we get closer; Toby Cypress has done a striking and really offbeat job on my other adaptation this time around. Expect to see us touring and signing a bit in the New York area, just like last year.

Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. #31

2008-07-11T09:40:00.003-04:00

Out next Wednesday: IRON MAN: DIRECTOR OF S.H.I.E.L.D. #31. Tony Stark disabled by Paladin! The Overkill Mind attacks! Tragedy in the skies! And a special treat for Dum Dum Dugan fans. I miss that guy already.

You can read the first six pages here. And an extra page, at lower quality, here.

And here's Adi Granov's cover -- possibly the finest Iron Man piece he's ever done. Which is really saying something.

Thomas M. Disch 1940-2008

2008-07-08T08:31:00.005-04:00

I don't think I ever really met him, though I remember talking with him in a group at a SFFWA cocktail party. I've read a few of his novels and at least one collection of short stories, and always found them fluid and fascinating. ON WINGS OF SONG was a mind-blower to me when I first read it serialized in F&SF magazine in the '70s. I always meant to read more -- this seems to be a common phenomenon with Disch's fiction (See Ellen Datlow's touching note on Disch's death).

But I always devoured his critical work. The recent compilation ON SF (pictured above) collects a variety of Disch miscellanea, including a devastating and very funny takedown of Ray Bradbury called "A Tableful of Twinkies." It climaxes with the line: "He is an artist only in the sense that he is not a hydraulic engineer." (I don't actually agree with the sentiment, but it always makes me laugh.)

Disch's finest piece of nonfiction, though, is the 1998 book-long essay THE DREAMS OUR STUFF IS MADE OF, a thoughtful, complex exploration of the many ways science fiction came to permeate and even dominate our culture. I can't say enough good things about this book -- it's an absorbing sf history lesson and it'll make you look at those toys on the shelf very differently.

One sequence from the book always stays with me. Disch begins a chapter on "SF as Religion" with an anecdote about his guest appearance at the Milford SF Writers Conference in 1964:

"But before the ball there was an ordeal to be undergone: I had to spend a night at the Red Fox Inn, a one-time boardinghouse some miles out of town that was the headquarters of the Centric Foundation, an organization devoted to the maximization of human potential whose founders (and only members) were the SF writing team of Walt and Leigh Richmond. Their method of collaboration was uniquely science fictional. Walt, a laconic, Burl Ives-ish fellow, would sit with a quiet smile on his lips and telepathically project his inputs to Leigh, who would translate them into their prose at the typewriter."

Funny so far, right? Disch explains the couple's background in (and excommunication from) the then-growing religion of Scientology, and describes them as "the first full-throttle, off-the-wall lunatic fringers that I met in the field of SF, and they remain the purest specimens I've known." But this isn't pointless cruelty. Disch goes on to explore, in more detail than I can quote here, the Richmonds' possible origins:

"For those who have been relegated to the category of nerd in high school years...there can be comfort in the assurance that despite being members of the chess club rather than the football team, they will have the last laugh -- as indeed many will, as they parlay their brains into scholarships to MIT or similar elite institutions. Yet there will be those, like (I imagine) Walt Richmond, whose capabilities don't gibe with their aspirations, whose chess game isn't top-notch and whose grades, even with effort, are C's and B's. How is one to reconcile, in such cases, the discrepancy between a grandiose self-image and the steady encroachments of mundane reality? The usual answer has been religion in one form or another."

I will miss Thomas Disch's thoughtful prose, which was sometimes dense and difficult, and more often liquid and absorbing. I'll miss his occasional flights into whimsy, such as the surprisingly successful BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER, also first published in F&SF. And I guess, judging from the above, I'll miss his cruel attacks on his colleagues. But most of all, I'll miss the ways he wove all those elements into an textured, illuminating worldview. I keep coming back to the word thoughtful; I can't think of a single Disch piece that ever seemed slapdash or hacked out.

And remember: If you're unsure about electricity, do not attempt to figure it out on your own. Consult a major appliance.

Life on the Moon

2008-06-24T14:40:00.006-04:00

Newsarama interviews a variety of creators, including me, on the state of Tokyopop. It's an interesting range of viewpoints; worth a look.

Above: Busted! A page from the now-web-only EARTHLIGHT volume 3, coming from Tokyopop this fall. Art, as always, by the amazing Christopher Schons.

Spider and his Amazing Friends

2008-06-23T08:10:00.005-04:00

Dirk Deppey's Journalista is a great news source and links blog -- it's the first comics site I check in the morning. His breadth of interest and knowledge of indy and foreign comics is impressive. Unfortunately, when he speculates about DC and Marvel, he's usually writing as an outsider, and frequently misses the mark.

Today he has a longish editorial about systemic problems within DC Comics. Some of it is pretty spot-on and some of it is dead wrong; I'll be honest and say I have too many conflicting interests, and too many friends at both DC and Marvel, to wade into this in any detail, especially at a volatile time like this.

However, I can set the record straight on one historical matter. In discussing DC's reputation for competition within the organization, Dirk writes:

"The most striking (and admittedly anecdotal) example I’ve heard — from multiple sources — would be the way that Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson’s Transmetropolitan was moved from the company’s failed sci-fi line Helix over to its Vertigo division, where it was allegedly resented by editor Karen Berger for being 'imposed from outside' and thus treated like Vertigo’s Ugly Duckling ever after, regardless of its obvious sales potential."

I acquired TRANSMET for Helix and edited the title for a little over two years -- the first at Helix, the rest at Vertigo. While Karen Berger and I had our differences during that time, I can tell you there was absolutely no resistance on her part to bringing the book over to Vertigo. She was nothing but supportive of it. In fact, DC gave issue #13, the first under the Vertigo imprint, an extra promotional push -- I think it was an overship, but I can't swear to that. I do know that Warren worked with Karen and Vertigo consistently for several years after that, notably on the graphic novel ORBITER with Colleen Doran. And TRANSMET, like PREACHER, SANDMAN, and THE INVISIBLES, was consistently and regularly collected into trade paperbacks before that was the norm.

Warren or Darick, or Axel Alonso, could tell you if there were problems with TRANSMET after my time. But if this really is a prominent rumor -- that the book was resented by Vertigo or somehow foisted on the imprint -- then let me squash it right now. Nothing to it at all.

Awright Listen Up!

2008-06-21T08:16:00.003-04:00

Thank you, Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan!

A few pressing matters:

• First and most important, since it keeps coming up: As far as I'm concerned, in my current IRON MAN storyline, Dugan (see above) is not a Skrull spy. He's the real thing. In the online prologue to SECRET INVASION, it's revealed that Dugan was killed and replaced with a Skrull just a few weeks before the Invasion began. My story takes place before that time.

So you can look at "With Iron Hands" as Dugan's last hurrah. And he gets some fun stuff to do in issue #31, next month.

All this is void where prohibited, or if Tom Brevoort decides I'm wrong.

If none of that made any sense to you, you probably have a life. Go back to it and stop making the rest of us feel bad.

• I've received word from Tokyopop that EARTHLIGHT volume 3, like most of their Original English Language manga, will not be published as a printed book, but will instead appear, free of charge, on their website at some point. Tokyopop is going through a change of business plan and, as has been widely reported, the OEL books haven't sold very well (with some definite exceptions). I'm sorry I won't be able to put volume three on the shelf next to the others -- but both Chris Schons and I have been paid in full, and this actually means more people will probably see the work. So no giant complaints.

• I don't know much about what's going on at DC right now; my interactions with them lately have been limited to some minor licensing work, and a recent, helpful interchange when the state of California decided retroactively that I and a few other freelancers owed them back taxes for work done for DC in 2005. (Spoiler: We don't.) I do wish John Nee the best. I can't say I know him well, but he's always done right by me and he inexplicably kept recommending me for jobs a few years ago. Also best wishes to Chuck Dixon, who's handled his own DC situation this past week with clarity and class.

More soon, including updates on THE 99 and new Marvel and Virgin projects.

Mid-June Catchup

2008-06-16T19:07:00.003-04:00

More frequent blogging soon -- promise! Meanwhile:

IRON MAN: DIRECTOR OF S.H.I.E.L.D. #30 is out this week, featuring part two of my four-part story "With Iron Hands." The tension escalates as the Overkill Mind is born! Part One got great reviews, and I'm really pleased with the way this whole book is coming out. Previews here and here.

Heidi MacDonald tells all about THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY VOLUME TWO, coming in September. I can't wait to show you some of the art on this.

I'm not sure of the status of EARTHLIGHT VOLUME THREE at Tokyopop. As far as I know, it's still scheduled for November. More info as it comes.

Next Week: Iron Man

2008-05-16T09:27:00.005-04:00

Heard of him?

Issue #29 features part one of the four-part "With Iron Hands," written by me with art by Roberto de la Torre and Carlo Pagulayan. On sale May 21st -- and you can read the first scene on Comic Book Resources.

CBR should have an interview up with me soon, too. Stay tuned...

Update: The preview is also up on Newsarama.

New York Comic Con!

2008-04-16T18:18:00.002-04:00

This weekend, the Jacob Javits Center, Manhattan.

Where I'll be:

Saturday 4/19/08
1:00 - 2:00 PM: Penny-Farthing Press, booth #1513.
2:45 - 3:15 PM: HarperCollins (for THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY), booth #1814.

Sunday 4/20/08
11:00 AM - 12:00 Noon: Marvel Comics, booth #1141.
3:00 - 4:00 PM: Panel: "How I Got My Job," with Jamal Igle, Andy Schmidt, Mike Cavallero, and moderator Bob Greenberger, Teen Room 1E02.

With Iron Hands

2008-04-15T20:10:00.005-04:00

I discuss my IRON MAN arc on Newsarama.

Tomorrow: My New York Comic-Con schedule...

This Is Not The Worst Thing You've Caught Me Doing

2008-03-18T16:07:00.003-04:00

Why have I not been posting?

Because I've been writing this

and this

Four issues, starting in May (with the movie). It's a lot of work to write -- the tech and the military details all have to be right -- but Tony Stark is just a great, great character at this point. And I like the Alpha Team, too.

More soon!

Bailando, Bailando

2008-02-21T16:02:00.001-05:00

My remembrance of Steve Gerber.

New Avengers / Transformers trade paperback

2008-01-30T09:56:00.000-05:00

Out today. One volume, collecting the whole miniseries by me and Tyler Kirkham.

Below: the team-up you never thought you'd see -- Luke Cage of the New Avengers, and Ratchet of the Autobots. Discussing rescue strategy and the nature of command.

More on The Stranded

2008-01-29T08:16:00.000-05:00

Eight things you may not know, at the Virgin blog.

Stranded / Ghost Rider

2008-01-17T08:45:00.000-05:00

Two projects I'm involved with slipped out this week while I was busy dealing with life.

THE STRANDED is the first of the new Virgin/SciFi line, and the first comic I've edited in more than five years. It's been a fascinating process, and I'm VERY happy with the result. THE STRANDED is the brainchild of writer/creator Mike Carey, who describes it here better than I could. Basically, it's the tale of a group of alien refugees planted on Earth with false memories...but when something comes to kill them, they must face the reality that their entire lives have been a lie.

SciFi, which has big hopes for this one, has launched a site devoted to it and to the upcoming titles in the line. The site is bare bones so far, but watch for it to grow soon.

Here's a sample page from THE STRANDED:

And then there's...

GHOST RIDER VOLUME 3: APOCALYPSE SOON features last year's GHOST RIDER ANNUAL by me and Ben Oliver, along with two stories from the regular book by Daniel Way and his crew. My story introduces the enigmatic Mister Eleven, a being trapped between...well, you'll have to read it to find out. I will say the story worked out nicely, both as a stand-alone character piece and as a part of the larger GHOST RIDER saga.

(The book also features a big battle with the Hulk. And you can't beat a big battle with the Hulk.)

Here's the Amazon page -- which, unfortunately, has the plot description for the next volume by mistake.

More soon...

End of the Year Thoughts (1)

2007-12-27T19:14:00.001-05:00

Been a while since my last post. Time gets away from you.

Anyway, here's an exercise. Watch any news program, from CNN to the nightly network broadcasts. Note how many stories there are that just seem to be designed to make you nervous, then end with a shrug: Everything's screwed up and nobody knows why.

Now imagine the newscaster finishing each of these stories by saying: "The reason, of course, is the hideous mismanagement of [FILL IN TOPIC]* over the past seven years by the Republican Party leadership of the United States of America."

You're still nervous, but at least things make more sense now.

*Greatest hits: Katrina, the food supply, NSA spying, torture, and of course Iraq. There are a lot more, of course.

State of the Art: Earth Year 2007 BCE

2007-11-21T07:33:00.001-05:00

I just wrote this in a conversation on Heidi's excellent blog, but that thread is getting a bit old, so I thought I'd repost it here. The whole thread is well worth reading.

--

This is educated guesswork, but here's how the comics market seems to break down in late 2007, to me:

Superhero readers are divided between those who prefer trade paperbacks and a still-strong contingent of readers who follow single issues month to month. From the continuing sales of singles, I assume that those readers are not bothered by the common net complaints of extended plot threads or lack of "enough content" per issue. They still like buying their comics every week and following continued stories as they come out.

Indy comics readers, in contrast, have largely abandoned the single-issue format. They prefer a larger chunk of work and are willing to pay for it. For most indy publishers, including (I'm hearing) Slave Labor, singles are no longer worth the expense to publish.

There are, of course, exceptions on both sides, particularly for long-established creators with an existing following. It's definitely true that if fans really want to read a new comic -- any new comic -- they'll follow it to the format it's published in.

And along those lines: I seem to be the only one, but the new LOVE & ROCKETS format mystifies me. I understand the impulse to try something that fits the material better, but this strikes me as combining the high price of a trade paperback with the short shelf-life (and lack of bookstore salability) of a single issue. Sam Henderson tried something similar a few years ago with, I recall, disastrous results. ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY works, but that's a real art object. And I say this as someone who will buy it -- I'd buy LOVE & ROCKETS if it was stencilled on the side of shipping containers.

Batman: Death and the City

2007-11-20T17:23:00.000-05:00

Out this week: BATMAN: DEATH AND THE CITY, a collection of stories from Detective Comics. Includes the two-part story "SIEGE" by me and Andy Clarke, in which a mad bomber decides to bring down Wayne Tower. Robin must try to stop the bomber from the lower floors, while Bruce Wayne is trapped upstairs, unable to change to Batman, with a group of peace conference delegates.

This story was a lot of fun and Andy drew the hell out of it. You can see his Robin up above -- as good a shot as I've ever seen of that character. He didn't get to draw Batman until late in the story, but it was worth the wait.

The book also features several other stories written by Paul Dini and Royal McGraw, and drawn by Don Kramer and Wayne Faucher. $14.99 from DC Comics.

In other news, I promise a blog post soon that ISN'T just blatant self-promotion. Been busy!

C'mon In...

2007-11-12T08:06:00.000-05:00

...while I discuss GHOST RIDER ANNUAL #1, on sale this week.

Transformers Spotlight: Ramjet

2007-11-07T08:29:00.000-05:00

Out today: a self-contained one-shot by me and Robby Musso. Five reasons you should buy it:

• Robby draws the best Decepticons in the business.
• The opening sequence features two alien planes speeding clear across the world while having a nice, long conversation.
• Ramjet has a cone for a head.
• This story follows on my AVENGERS/TRANSFORMERS miniseries, but it stands completely on its own. No prior knowledge is necessary.
• It wasn't until I finished writing this book that I realized I'd written a variation on a classic Warner Brothers cartoon plot, adapted for the modern Transformers milieu.

From IDW Publishing - $3.99 US. For a preview, go here.

The Final Nightmare

2007-11-04T17:13:00.000-05:00

For now, anyway. Join the NIGHTMARE FACTORY crew -- joined on this occasion by Fox Atomic e-i-c Eric Lieb, editor Heidi MacDonald, and master artist Ted McKeever -- for this panel discussion:

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2007 – NEW YORK, NY
MOCCA – MUSEUM OF COMIC & CARTOON ART — 6:30 p.m.

594 Broadway/Suite 401
(bet. Houston & Prince)
New York, NY 10003

(212) 254-3511

Writers Stuart Moore and Joe Harris, artists Michael Gaydos and Ted McKeever, editor Heidi MacDonald and Fox Atomic Editor-in-Chief Eric Lieb come together for a discussion of Fox Atomic and The Nightmare Factory with moderator Calvin Reid, PW. -- FREE

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The panelists have a pretty wide variety of experience, so we're planning to open up the discussion to a lot of different areas depending on audience interest. Come on out and ask us anything. (Straight answers are not guaranteed.)

Both of last week's events were a blast. The Comic Book Club show is hilarious -- well worth a visit, and fun to be part of. And the McNally Robinson Bookstore went all out for Halloween. We signed books, listened to five authors read scary stories, and drank complimentary beer (good beer, too!). Here's Heidi at the party:

This Week: The Nightmare Factory

2007-10-28T09:31:00.000-04:00

It's Halloween and that means I'm running around NYC promoting THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY! Here's the scoop -- note revised location and time for the first item:

1. Tuesday, October 30 @ 9:30 PM:

COMIC BOOK CLUB
***NIGHTMARE FACTORY SPECIAL***

Hosted by Justin Tyler, Pete LePage, and Alex Zalben

Featuring:
Stuart Moore (New Avengers/Transformers)
Joe Harris (Darkness Falls)
Michael Gaydos (Alias)
& Colleen Doran (Sandman)

Tickets: $10 tickets in advance / $15 tickets day of show
***$5 off with the promo code CBCCMX***

Online: ComixNY.com
Phone: 212-524-2500

COMIX NY
353 West 14th St.
Just East of 9th Ave.

Check out the Comic Book Club website, and their MySpace page.

The show is sponsored in part by Midtown Comics.

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2. Wednesday, October 31 @ 6:00 PM:

– NEW YORK, NY
MCNALLY ROBINSON BOOKSELLERS —
52 Prince St
New York, NY 10012
(212) 274-1160
*Literary Halloween Party event with readings; refreshments – FREE
*Silent projections from horror comic anthology Nightmare Factory (HarperCollins/Fox Atomic) and signings by artist Colleen Doran and writer Stuart Moore

New Avengers: The Spirit of America

2007-10-21T10:39:00.001-04:00

I haven't promoted this project because most of you can't get it -- but I'm proud of it anyway. It's the fifth in a series of NEW AVENGERS comics produced specifically for the US army's soldiers, and the second one I've written. I always feel a particular sense of responsibility working on these books, because of the terrible burdens our soldiers face these days.

In this book, a message from Captain America -- taped before his death -- sends Wolverine and Iron Man, separately, to protect two siblings -- a soldier and a national guardsman -- who, together, hold the key to an A.I.M. terrorist plot. I had some fun with the Iron Man/Captain America conflict, and also with the fact that Wolverine now has dual membership in the Avengers and the X-Men. (He drags Cyclops overseas with him.)

There's a nice, brief review here. If anyone else has read it and has feedback -- or has a friend or relative serving, who gets hold of it -- I'd love to hear it.

January: Two Trades

2007-10-20T08:23:00.000-04:00

Briefly noted: In January, Marvel has two trade paperbacks featuring my work:

NEW AVENGERS / TRANSFORMERS is collected into a single volume for the low, low price of $10.99 US. Doctor Doom, the Autobots, and Giant Iron Man vs. Megatron. And admit it: There's some small, shameful, reptile part of your brain that's always wanted to see Luke Cage buddy up with Ratchet.

And GHOST RIDER: APOCALYPSE SOON collects two regular issues of Daniel Way's run on the book, along with my Annual -- which isn't even out yet. Introducing the mysterious Mister Eleven...a man trapped between Heaven and Hell, who seeks Ghost Rider for his own, selfish reasons.

Redwall

2007-10-17T09:50:00.000-04:00

While I wasn't looking, REDWALL - the Graphic Novel slipped into comic shops and bookstores. This is a faithful adaptation of the first novel in Brian Jacques's much-loved fantasy series, about a group of mice and badgers under assault from the evil rat Cluny the Scourge and his minions. It was once described to me as "Wind in the Willows meets Lord of the Rings," which is about as close as you can get...with its own brand of charm and adventure.

School Library Journal says: "The adaptation of the novel is excellent; even this condensed form captures the spirit and the language of the original...The story is a page-turner, and the detailed black-and-white drawings capture both the passion and the pathos."

I provided the script adaptation, and Bret Blevins came through with the best art of his career. Comics fans may remember Bret from his '80s and '90s Marvel work, which was often excellent -- but he's much more at home here. See the sample pages below.

More information on the Amazon page.

The 99

2007-10-16T09:51:00.000-04:00

This week, Teshkeel Comics begins its U.S. publication schedule in earnest with THE 99 #1. THE 99 is a multinational, multicultural team of teenaged superheroes, each of whom possesses one of 99 Noor Stones -- ancient gems of power that bring out a particular attribute within each person. The first few members: Jabbar the Powerful, Noora the Light (pictured on cover #1, above), Darr the Afflicter, and Jami the Assembler (cover #2, below).

THE 99 has already been published in Kuwait, and distributed overseas to great acclaim. This past summer, Teshkeel distributed two free preview issues to comic shops in the U.S., each featuring two full-length stories. Check with your local shop to see if they're available.

These are superhero comics aimed largely at kids, designed deliberately to foster a message of international and cross-cultural cooperation. The first two issues each feature lead stories co-written by creator Naif al-Mutawa and Fabian Nicieza, with art by John McCrea; and back-features written by me, with art by Steve Yeowell (#1) and McCrea (#2). I'll have some full-length stories later in the run.

Check 'em out. More information on Teshkeel -- which also publishes Marvel, DC, and Archie comics overseas -- here.

UPDATE: Very nice interview with Fabian about THE 99 on Comic Book Resources.

This Week

2007-10-09T11:49:00.000-04:00

Out tomorrow: NEW AVENGERS / TRANSFORMERS #4.

Preview here.

And don't forget, Thursday night: I'm signing at Jim Hanley's Universe in Manhattan. Details here, or directly below...

Factory Work

2007-10-03T17:13:00.001-04:00

We're doing a lot of promotion for THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY in New York City, over the next month.

First off:

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2007 – NEW YORK, NY
JIM HANLEY’S UNIVERSE — 6:30 p.m.
4 West 33rd St.
New York, NY 10001
(off 5th Ave. - opposite the Empire State Building)

*Signing event with Nightmare Factory writers/artists: Stuart Moore, Joe Harris, Michael Gaydos *

Steve Niles is on at 5:00, and then we bat cleanup. A nice bunch of guys and a great creepy book.

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Later in the month, Colleen Doran joins us for:

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2007 – NEW YORK, NY
THE COMIC BOOK CLUB — 8:00 p.m.
@ The Peoples Improv Theater
154 West 29th St., 2nd Fl.
(btwn. 6th and 7th Aves.)
New York, NY 10001

*Live radio interview/panel event with studio audience – entry fee $5.00/per person
*Panel of artists/writers: Stuart Moore, Joe Harris, Colleen Doran, Michael Gaydos

NOTE: TIME AND LOCATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CHANGED -- GO HERE FOR DETAILS!

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And:

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2007 – NEW YORK, NY
MCNALLY ROBINSON BOOKSELLERS — 6:00 p.m.
52 Prince St
New York, NY 10012

*Literary Halloween Party event with readings; refreshments – FREE
*Silent projections from horror comic anthology Nightmare Factory (HarperCollins/Fox Atomic) and signings by artist Colleen Doran and writer Stuart Moore

I ain't never been to no "Lit'ry Halloween Party" before. Does m'pumpkin need a tie?

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Finally, Heidi MacDonald and Ted McKeever join us for:

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2007 – NEW YORK, NY
MOCCA – MUSEUM OF COMIC & CARTOON ART — 6:30 p.m.
594 Broadway/Suite 401
(bet. Houston & Prince)
New York, NY 10003

*Writers Stuart Moore and Joe Harris, artists Michael Gaydos and Ted McKeever, and editor Heidi MacDonald come together for a discussion about Fox Atomic and The Nightmare Factory with moderator Calvin Reid, Publishers Weekly. -- FREE

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And then we are tired.

Ghost Rider Annual

2007-09-26T12:04:00.000-04:00

First look at the color art, plus a wide-ranging interview with me.

More on GHOST RIDER ANNUAL #1 here.

Elsewhere, on Johanna Carlson's site, I seem to be involved in a debate about the Zuda contracts. The best solution: Blast them with the Penance Stare. Then you'll know a company's true intentions!

Eye to Eye (Marvel Edition)

2007-09-21T14:23:00.000-04:00

Preview of NEW AVENGERS / TRANSFORMERS #4 -- the heavy-metal conclusion.

Two nice reviews of MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS #1:

Augie de Blieck at Comic Book Resources.

Stacy B. at The Comic Stew.

A Love Story

2007-09-21T11:34:00.000-04:00

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Special thanks to Bunny-Luv Carrot Snax (rabbit), Red Hot & Blue Memphis Pit Bar-B-Que (pigs), and Some Fax Machine Where I Used to Work (Mickey).

Qvote Unqvote

2007-09-18T16:47:00.000-04:00

"Mike Nichols told me long ago that there is no such thing as a career -- that if a person has done five great things over three decades of work she is indeed blessed."

-David Mamet, BAMBI VS GODZILLA