I’m away for a family get-together this weekend, so let’s have a news round-up before I go:
THREE DAYS IN HOLLYWOOD
As reported by Variety, Jennifer Garner has signed a first-look deal at Warner Bros and one of the movies on her slate is THREE DAYS IN EUROPE—starring Garner and Hugh Jackman (!). Yes, I’m quite happy about this; no, it doesn’t mean a movie will actually get made any time soon. But here’s hoping, because that’s some pretty awesome casting.
SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD
Over on the DEAD SPACE blog, Senior Producer and game story guru Chuck Beaver appears to have let the cat out of the bag on one of those left-field projects I mentioned at the start of the year:
We did a master timeline so the Comic and Animated Feature could see the events, referencing and riffing on whatever sounded cool. Antony Johnston did the writing for the Comics and the game dialogue, so the consistency was locked up there (plus we bought him coffee during WonderCon).
Yes, it’s true; Chuck bought me far too many Grande Lattes at WonderCon.
No, wait, that’s not it… Oh, yes; I also wrote the dialogue script for the game. Which was exceedingly cool.
(You may think it’s not much to shout about, but remember all those hundreds of pages of script unaccounted for in my Q1 roundup? Yeah. There’s a lot of story and dialogue in DEAD SPACE.)
DEAD CITIES
Still with DEAD SPACE, I’ll be attending Sci-Fi London 2008 alongside EA’s Glen Schofield, the game’s Executive Producer and all-round walking injury. No idea what the schedule is yet, but I know there’s a press event or two involved, and talk of a signing at Forbidden Planet. More details when I have them.
NO TORI US*
You may have seen the blitz of news stories concerning COMIC BOOK TATTOO, the Tori Amos-themed anthology to be published this summer through Image, with a veritable plethora of quality creators contributing. Sadly, despite previous news (and my name being in the PR) I won’t be a part of the book after all. I wanted to, as I’ve been a Tori fan all the way back from CRUCIFY, but circumstances beyond my control threw a spanner in the works, and it wasn’t to be. You should buy CBT anyway, of course, because it looks bloody ace.
*Sorry.
[ Dead Space / Videogames / Three Days In Europe / Movies / Anthologies ]
I saw the printer’s proof of DEAD SPACE #1 yesterday, and it looks stunning. Prequels are always a hard gig to pull off, because you have to tell a good story without giving too much of the main story away (i.e. the game, which is released on Halloween this year). But I think this is a good one. Quite proud of it, actually.
Ben and I will be at WonderCon next month to promote it. I believe there’ll be a short-run convention special of the first issue on sale there, and EA say they have some other promotional events lined up (though I have no idea what).
In other news, I’m about to start work on the WOLVERINE manga, I’ll shortly be writing WASTELAND #18, I’m contributing to the upcoming Tori Amos COMIC BOOK TATTOO anthology, and working apace on another of those left-field projects I mentioned a while back. Still can’t talk about it yet, though. Shame, it’s really cool.
And that’s about it for now (oh, is that all?!). WASTELAND #14 will be on sale shortly - when I know the exact date, I’ll let everyone know. Until then, it’s back to the grindstone for me…
[ Dead Space / Wasteland / Wolverine / Appearances / Anthologies ]
I’m back from San Diego, which was by all accounts another record-breaking year; Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all sold out, attendance was up overall, and almost everyone I spoke to was selling more books than ever before. Good times.
Ben and I shifted loads of copies of the DEAD SPACE teaser and posters. Having someone like Ben on a book like this is invaluable - the line at both our signing times seemed neverending. Everyone wanted a sketch from the man, and it gave us the opportunity to get plenty of people interested in the book.
Oni sold more copies of WASTELAND than anyone expected - I don’t know the exact figure, but Randal Jarrell told me it was more than double what they planned for. Chris and I were pretty busy, even on the couple of times our signings were at off-peak hours, and I want to thank everyone who came by to see us. I especially want to praise everyone who recommended the book to someone else; a lot of people bought a copy of Book 1 at the show because a friend had raved about it to them, and that’s the sort of thing that makes all the San Diego stress worthwhile.
We also shifted a few TEXAS STRANGERS issues and ashcans, mainly to people who’d never seen the book before, which was great. (A few people asked if the book was only a miniseries, because they haven’t seen any solicitations past #4. The answer is no, but we paused solicitations when it became clear that #2 was going to be late, which of course pushes all the other issues back, too. We’ll be back in PREVIEWS soon, promise.)
POSTCARDS and 24SEVEN were both received well, and the POSTCARDS signing in particular was chaotic fun, with up to seven creators at a time all trying to sketch and sign while squeezed into a space designed for three at the Comic Relief booth. Space notwithstanding, the CR staff were great, and it was all a kind of mad laugh with books flying back and forth as people tried to decipher signatures and work out if someone had already signed their copy or not.
Finally, I picked up a copy of the HYPOTHETICAL LIZARD collection from Avatar, which is gorgeous. Not sure if it’s hit stores yet, but if not then it can’t be far off. [EDIT: yes, it’s on sale now.]
Right, back to the grindstone…
[ Wasteland / Alan Moore / Appearances / On Sale / Anthologies / Texas Strangers ]
Been a while since I sat down and talked about what I’m doing, instead of just shilling books on sale. And I have San Diego stuff to announce, so let’s get stuck in…
WORK IN PROGRESS
WASTELAND #14 is written - another standalone guest artist issue, this one will be drawn by Joe Infurnari (of BORROWED TIME, and the amazing pinup featued in WL #10). It’s a quiet little story about a scavenger, a Cross Chains priest, and a journey across the wasteland to a small town… fifty-five years after the Big Wet. Oh, yes.
Work on the following arc will begin when I get back from San Diego. Tentatively titled ‘Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos’ (but otherwise known as ‘the Battle of Newbegin’), it’ll probably run through till #17 or #18.
As vowed a few months ago, I’m also hard at work on BLACKGUARD, my next novel - a fantasy adventure for teens. Currently about halfway through, and loving every minute of it. No publisher lined up yet, and I won’t be looking for one till it’s finished, so watch this space.
TEXAS STRANGERS is alive, despite the delays in issue #2. And just to prove it, we’ll have black and white ashcans of issue #3 at San Diego.
POINT BLANC is still on track for a September release. I saw the final, coloured art a few weeks ago, and it looks even better than STORMBREAKER. Really lovely stuff.
Also at San Diego, I’ll be announcing DEAD SPACE, a new sci-fi horror title drawn by the inestimable Ben Templesmith. We’ll be giving away a short teaser issue to promote it, and signing at the Image booth - times below.
L.A. SIGNING
I’ll be signing at Golden Apple in L.A. this Wednesday (25th), from 1-3pm. Myself, Dan Evans and Mario Boon will all be there to promote TEXAS STRANGERS, but I’ll happily sign anything else you want to bring in. If you’re in the area (7018 Melrose, on La Brea) then do stop by. I believe we’re going to overlap a bit with Mike Carey’s appearance on the same day, which should be fun.
ON SALE
Two of the anthologies I’ve recently contributed to go on sale this week; POSTCARDS: TRUE STORIES THAT NEVER HAPPENED is on shelves tomorrow (24th), and 24SEVEN Vol. 2 hits the streets on Wednesday (25th). They’re both well worth your time (Whoever knew anthologies would actually come back into fashion?), and I’ll be signing copies of POSTCARDS at…
SAN DIEGO
Yes, like the rest of the assembled hordes of nerddom, I’ll be at San Diego this week. here’s where I’ll be found over the long weekend. (At all other times, assume I’m in the bar…)
WASTELAND/ONI PRESS
At Oni Press - booth 1834
For sale: WASTELAND t-shirts, patches and fridge magnets (!), Christopher’s artwork
Thu: 3.00 - 4.30
Fri: 3.00 - 4.30
Sat: 6.00 - 7.00
Sun: 12.00 - 1.30
I’ll also be at the Oni Press panel, Saturday @ 1.30, in Room 10
DEAD SPACE
At Image - booth 2729
GIVING AWAY copies of the teaser issue!
Thu: 1.00 - 2.00
Fri: 12.30 - 1.30
TEXAS STRANGERS
At Image - booth 2729
For sale: black-and-white ashcans of TS #3, Mario’s artwork
Sun: 10.00 (yes, that’s a.m. folks!)
POSTCARDS
At Comic Relief - booth 1514
Fri: 5.00 - 6.00
Sat: 4.00 - 5.00
[ Dead Space / Wasteland / Appearances / On Sale / Anthologies / Texas Strangers ]
Jason Rodriguez, editor of the upcoming anthology POSTCARDS: TRUE STORIES THAT NEVER HAPPENED, is guest-blogging at Newsarama all this week. He’s just posted a conversation we had about my contribution, which is pretty interesting.
My story, drawn by ELK’S RUN artist Noel Tuazon, is called BEST SIDE OUT - a reference to the postcard I worked from, which you can see at that Newsarama piece - and I’m very pleased with it. It’s a quiet, character-led tale about a woman trapped in an abusive relationship, and the ‘little rebellions’ she undertakes to make her days bearable.
POSTCARDS is published by Villard Books, a division of Random House, and will be on sale in June. You can pre-order a copy through your local comic store, order code APR074039, or you can get it from a bookstore with the ISBN 978-0345498502. (Or, of course, you can always buy it from Amazon.)
[ Interviews / Anthologies ]
Meet the new year, same as the old year… Except, of course, it’s not. In fact, it’s going to be very different indeed. Thus:
WASTELAND will continue through the year. Issue #7 is called CHILDREN OF THE SUN, a stand-alone story featuring the drafting talents of Carla Speed McNeil - author of FINDER and one of my favourite creators. After that we head into the second major arc with #8, entitled RUSTY CAGE. I’m just wrapping up the script for #10 now, wherein a few tasty clues and tidbits get revealed. And, of course, there’s a fight.
In addition to last month’s WIZARD listing (which I still haven’t seen. Bah), WASTELAND was just named as one of the top 10 books of 2006 by Matt Price in the Daily Oklahoman. WASTELAND is still doing well, still performing beyond mine and Chris’ expectations, and the near-term future at least looks secure. I am now writing a bona fide ongoing series. Which is weird, but good.
STEALING LIFE goes on sale in just a few weeks, which is also going to be weird but good, mainly because the core audience of Abaddon’s line is of course 2000AD fans, who have absolutely no idea who I am. PJ Holden owes me a drink, if that makes any difference…
TEXAS STRANGERS debuts in March. What’s weird about this experience; it’s the first time I’ve co-written, my first book through Image, my first regular book for children, and also my first regular book in colour. However, once again; weird… but good. Dan and I are finishing the script to #3 this month.
The second Alex Rider graphic novel, POINT BLANC, will be released some time later in the year. STORMBREAKER is already my most successful book ever, outselling even my Alan Moore adaptations. Weird, but… good. Exactly.
And I’m about to sign a contract to do a series that could be even more crazy, if it all comes off. I don’t like to talk about stuff that isn’t ready to be announced, so I’m not going to bore you. But this one is really weird.
I’ve also agreed to do a short story for volume 2 of 24Seven, the robot-themed anthology created by Ivan Brandon. My story is an existential tragedy about the futility of struggling for immortality. Yeah, I know. Working title is SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE.
Finally, I sweartagawd that I will write another novel this year. Probably BLACKGUARD, if I can sink my teeth into it for a good few weeks.
Oh, and I have a deconstructionist comic miniseries called KILLING DEAL that keeps bubbling to the surface. So you might hear about that, too.
Hope you had a good 2006. Here’s to a better 2007.
[ Wasteland / Alex Rider / Novels / Stealing Life / Anthologies / Texas Strangers ]
TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: Fearbook goes on sale today, my first foray into the world of Leatherface and Co. It’s being released alongside the last issues of Brian Pulido’s TCM miniseries, GRIND, so best to double check which one you’re buying.
(Not that you shouldn’t buy GRIND too, of course, but with the eight thousand variant covers each issue comes wrapped in, you could easily walk out with two issues of the same thing by mistake. If you want to be absolutely sure, just peek inside. Bunch of hippies on the first page, driving through Texas? That’s the FEARBOOK.)
In other news, I finished the script to my story for the POSTCARDS anthology yesterday. It’s called “Best Side Out”, the story of a woman’s life with her abusive husband in rural Ontario at the start of the 20th century, and I’m rather proud of it. The illustrator is Noel Tuazon, whose most recent work you may have seen in ELK’S RUN. Keep your ears open for some more POSTCARDS news round about San Diego, too.
[ Anthologies ]
After some production delay, FOUR LETTER WORLDS is finally available in comic stores today. I haven’t seen any of the other contributions at all, so I’m looking forward to getting a copy myself - the talent roster is very impressive (and then there’s me, but oversights will happen). A bargain at $12.95, too.
In other news, it’s looking more likely that I’ll be attending the San Diego Comic-Con this year; QUEEN & COUNTRY: DECLASSIFIED is finished, looks lovely, and will be on its way to the printers soon; and F-STOP is at the printers, shipping imminently.
[ Queen & Country / F-Stop / Appearances / Anthologies ]
I took part in this week’s edition of BIG POND, Neil Kleid’s column for Scryptic Studios, in which he talks about maintaining the discipline to write. Which, believe me, is the single hardest part of this career choice. Brian Wood also contributes his thoughts, and the result is quite an interesting piece.
In other news, I learnt today that the Image anthology FOUR LETTER WORLDS is going to be late. It’s now scheduled for early March. I have no idea what caused this delay, and it leaves me in the rather annoying position of not having anything at all on the stands this month, but I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait.
[ Interviews / Anthologies ]
FOUR LETTER WORLDS is solicited in PREVIEWS this month. Mike Hawthorne and I contributed a story to the ‘Fate’ section, but don’t let that put you off ordering it. It’s on p139, in the Image Comics section; 144 pages for $12.95. The order code is NOV041533.
[ Pre-order / Anthologies ]
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