9th November 2009 / Coldest City / Musings
Twenty years ago today, the Berlin Wall fell.
Those of us old enough to remember it, especially Europeans, will never forget that historic night. The Cold War had been going on for decades, since long before I was born, and the idea that it would ever end was almost inconceivable.
Even Gorbachev’s initiatives of glasnost and perestroika, while helping thaw East-West relations to a degree, never seemed likely to end the Cold War (much less bring about the end of communist Russia). By 1989, the Cold War had been underway for forty-four years.
Throughout that time, Berlin — and the Berlin Wall itself — grew in significance to become a symbol of the entire East-West geopolitical divide. Unlike the metaphorical Iron Curtain, the Berlin Wall was literally a wall, and thus an easy shorthand for political discussion of the times.
When the East Germans finally broke through and celebrated into the night, we all hoped it would usher in a new age of freedom and brotherhood. Sadly, we weren’t so successful at that. Nevertheless, the fall of the Berlin Wall will always be remembered as a testament to the power of public will, and a moment nobody who witnessed it will ever forget.
…All of which is preamble to say that today, I’m officially announcing THE COLDEST CITY, which I’ve so far only mentioned here in passing.
THE COLDEST CITY is a Cold War spy thriller, set in Berlin during the last days before the Wall came down. More John Le Carré than James Bond, it’s a down-to-earth espionage story that revels in the paranoia and mistrust boiling over at the epicentre of the Cold War. Here’s a synopsis:
November 1989. Communism is collapsing, and soon the Berlin Wall will be torn down by both the East and West.
But before that happens there is one last situation for MI6, Britain’s intelligence services, to resolve. Two weeks ago, an undercover MI6 officer was killed in Berlin. He was carrying information from a source in the East — a list that allegedly contains the name of every espionage agent working in Berlin, on all sides.
No list was found on his body.
MI6 sent in Lorraine Broughton, an experienced spy with no pre-existing ties to Berlin, to root out the list. But she walked into a powderkeg of social unrest, counter-espionage, defections gone bad and secret assassinations. Then, on the night the Wall came down, her superior — MI6′s chief officer in Berlin — was shot and killed in the street.
Now Lorraine has returned, to tell her story. And nothing is quite what it seems
Illustrated by Sam Hart (JUDGE DREDD, STARSHIP TROOPERS) and Published in 2010 by Oni Press, THE COLDEST CITY will be a digest-sized hardback that sits very comfortably next to your Le Carré and Deighton novels (insert winking smiley here).
There’ll be a full press release soon, but I wanted to get the news out on this momentous anniversary. So, all shilling aside, let’s take a moment to remember that even the most powerful government can’t deny the will of the people… providing that will is strong enough.
[Addendum: The full press release is now online.]
29th October 2009 / Appearances / Movies / Musings / Wolverine
26th August 2009 / Musings / Wasteland
It was my birthday yesterday. I spent it working, as is often the case, but I’m off to Paris next weekend, so that’ll do me. Briefly, then:
WASTELAND: THE APOCALYPTIC EDITION, Vol I is en route from the printers. The Oni web site had it scheduled for arrival in stores today, but with hardcovers (which are printed outside the US) these dates are only ever an estimate, especially as the books have to clear customs. But it’s definitely on the way, and of course I’ll announce it the moment we know when it will reach stores.
I finished the script for WASTELAND #29 this week, and we sent WASTELAND #26 to press, so expect that in stores soon. Issue #29 is all about Dexus, and he’s always fun to write.
I’m also very close to finishing the ‘Zero Draft’ of cold war spy thriller THE COLDEST CITY, which I’ve mentioned before.
Allow me to explain what a ‘Zero Draft’ is.
The first stage of any story is the outline. I tend to lengthier outlines than some writers, but it’s inevitable that things will change as I write, no matter how detailed the outline is.
The next stage is writing basic dialogue and blocking out major scene directions; this often consists of rough, on-the-nose speech and just an indication of where the scene takes place. It’s the writing equivalent of a guide vocal, if you will. If something major happens, like a character shooting someone, I include that. But if it’s a talking heads scene, with no real need for detailed action description, I just write the dialogue.
Why not write all the panels in full? Because things change. I might get halfway through, then come up with a great idea that necessitates altering scenes in the first half. I might get to the end, only to realise I need to set something up halfway through. Whole characters and scenes can appear, disappear or be changed wholesale. But if you start making those changes immediately, before finishing the rest of the script, more often than not you’ll get bogged down, lose momentum, and never finish. Instead, I just make a note about what I want to change and press on.
So the Zero Draft allows me to get the skeleton of the script finished. It’s much easier to look at a story and see what needs revising once the whole thing is in place, even if you know a lot of it will change.
And a big advantage of this method is speed; in the Zero Draft stage, I can power through twenty pages in a good day. Of course, it’s a complete mess, and not fit for anyone but me to read. It wouldn’t even make sense to most people. But it gives me a whole story to look at and start revising… which is the next stage, followed by writing all the panels out in full, then polishing and polishing again until the first true draft is ready.
Anyway. Happy birthday to me; have an amusing Internet site to celebrate.
22nd June 2009 / Musings
So you may know that I’ve spoken before about digital comics piracy, and the need for an iTunes-like solution if we’re to avoid the same fate as the music industry.
What you don’t know is that for the past year or so I’ve been advising the makers of Longbox, a digital comics reader and store that intends to be that solution.
Rantz Hoseley, comics creator/editor and Quicksilver Software head honcho, unveiled Longbox at Heroes Con this past weekend. Comic Book Resources has a lengthy write-up, and iFanboy has also weighed in with a thoughtful piece.
For the record, my part in the process was small, I wasn’t paid, and I have no financial or legal involvement whatsoever with Quicksilver Software. But I sincerely believe this is the way of the future, and I’m heartened that someone is finally taking it seriously.
20th June 2009 / Musings
This year’s Oni Press talent search is now underway. If you’re an artist trying to break in to comics, you should know that this is for real; the previous iteration in 2006 led directly to both Joe Infurnari and Mike Holmes getting their start in the industry.
Once again, I’ve contributed a sample script — this time it’s the first five pages of COLD CITY, an espionage thriller I’m currently writing. I make no promises that drawing my script will get you a job on the finished book, of course! On the other hand, it was Joe Infurnari’s excellent rendering of my script last time around that led to him drawing a WASTELAND interlude issue, so you never know.
Just so there’s no confusion, you should know that I, and the other contributing writers, are not the judges here. That’s entirely the domain of Oni’s editorial staff. We just provide the scripts for you to draw. With that in mind, it’s pointless me trying to give any advice, or tell you how to “succeed” at this. Just do what you do, and do it well.
That said, there is one way I can guarantee you won’t succeed, and that’s by ignoring the rules. Don’t try to be a smartass and ignore them, thinking that your talent will get you through regardless. It won’t. Talent and the ability to follow submission guidelines, on the other hand, will get you far.
Good luck!
8th March 2009 / Alan Moore / Musings
I’ve been working away for a few days, but returned to find that the New York Times has finally started to produce a bestseller list for graphic novels.
This in itself is a very good thing, but I was even more pleased to see that the new colour edition of THE COURTYARD is at #7 on the softcover list. Nice!
13th February 2009 / Musings / Wasteland / Wolverine
So apart from my Superbowl musings, I’ve been quiet the past few weeks. Why? A simple combination of lots of work, not attending NYCC (but wishing I could have, as by all accounts it was pretty great), and not having anything on sale just yet (WASTELAND #24 is delayed slightly, should be out in a week or two).
So what’s all this work? Well, WASTELAND #26 for one thing. That may sound perilously close, but painting (yes, painting) #25 in full colour is going to keep Chris busy for a while, and the rest of the arc will be much easier for me than this opening issue (no, it’s not another Sand-Eater issue! You’ll understand when you see it).
I’m also into the second half of WOLVERINE Vol. 2, which I’m told was well-anticipated by the NYCC crowd. I’m glad to hear it, obviously, but there’s one thing I want to make clear. According to the most comprehensive report of the Del Rey panel I’ve yet seen, WOLVERINE was touted as “featur[ing] a young, untamed Logan before he got claws.”
Now, I have no idea if that’s a direct quote from somebody at Del Rey, or the reporter paraphrasing and/or assuming, but, uh, it’s not true. He has his claws popped right there on the cover, for goodness’ sake. One thing that I’ve seen mentioned is true, however; this isn’t the Wolverine you know, and requires absolutely no knowledge of Marvel characters or continuity to enjoy. I promise.
Finally, I’m working on a couple of Super Seekrit things, as is so often the case. One of them is taking up a great deal of time; the other is a pitch for a series that, if it sells, will take up a great deal of time in the future. Fun!
And I leave you with this blow-by-blow account of that Steelers drive. Awesome.
1st February 2009 / Musings
Why I am supporting Pittsburgh today:
Click here for the full image.
23rd December 2008 / Musings
So. That was 2008, then.
It’s been a pretty non-stop year for me, and a thoroughly enjoyable one.
I spent most of January writing the DEAD SPACE game script, though of course at the time I wasn’t allowed to talk about it. It was a pretty intense workload, but a completely new challenge for me that I relished. And many of the game reviews have commented on the script’s quality, which makes it all worthwhile.
February was a mad month. I attended WonderCon to promote the DEAD SPACE comic launch, and was wholly unprepared for the enormous level of interest in the book, both at the con and our Isotope party (where Ben and I were nominated as the best-dressed creators they’d ever hosted, a nice touch). We were also shown around the EA campus, and encountered another enormous line of fans. I started writing WOLVERINE: PRODIGAL SON, scripted the No Known Survivors stories, and bought a new guitar.
I spent most of March writing more DEAD SPACE and WOLVERINE, and made another run at The Bloody YA Fantasy Novel that never seems to be finished (It still isn’t).
April left the starting grid with a mind-boggling realisation of just how much work I’d already done in 2008, then moved into high gear when my work for the DEAD SPACE game was announced at the same time as the attachment of Jennifer Garner and Hugh Jackman to a movie version of THREE DAYS IN EUROPE. Later in the month, the first WOLVERINE art was released to the press, and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
May was quiet on the press front, but behind the scenes I started work on another graphic novel adaptation from a series of children’s books. Would you believe that, even though it’s now December, I still can’t actually tell you what they are. This month also saw the death of comic retailer extraordinaire Rory Root, who remains sorely missed.
It was similarly quiet in June, which I spent mostly writing more of the same. Two nice surprises were finding the POINT BLANC graphic novel on the School Library Association’s Boys Into Books list—one of only four to make the cut—and being asked to do a Writing Masterclass for Travelling Man in Leeds. The rest of the month was spent finishing DEAD SPACE and writing as much as possible of everything else, because…
If it’s July, it must be San Diego. I don’t remember much of the month itself, because it was a blur of intense work and desperate deadline-chasing, but I do remember the con, where I had a great time promoting both DEAD SPACE and WASTELAND. It was also where I learnt that JULIUS had been optioned for film, which undoubtedly helped lift my spirits while I was running back and forth between booths at top speed.
In August I started work on both the EAGLE STRIKE graphic novel and the second volume of WOLVERINE. It’s doubtful either of these books will be out until 2010, which just goes to show you what a mad world publishing is. This month also saw the launch of No Known Survivors, and my musings on the state of digital comics.
September was another quiet one publicly, apart from the last issue of the DEAD SPACE comic and WASTELAND #20, featuring art from Eisner Award-winner Chuck BB. I wrote more EAGLE STRIKE and composed Sanctuary Four for the WASTELAND soundtrack (with my new guitar, natch). To cap it off, the NFL season got underway and saw my beloved-but-previously-useless Miami Dolphins starting a controversial new quarterback and somehow thrashing the Patriots, which cheered me up no end.
Things got busy again in October, with the release of the DEAD SPACE game and its inevitable flurry of PR, the conclusion of No Known Survivors, and my somewhat last-minute attendance at the MCM Expo in London—where I met a few Brit comics people I’d never chatted to before, shared a smoke and philosophical chat about sci-fi fandom with Michael Hogan, and generally had a great time. October is the month I became a full-time author in 2002, and for some reason it’s always busy. If these two events are somehow connected, the reason eludes me.
In November, I stayed up all night hoping Americans would prove the last eight years were just a horrible blip of temporary insanity. They did. Once that panic was over I finished EAGLE STRIKE, wrote some more WOLVERINE, and started work on yet another Super Seekrit thing I can’t talk about, sorry. I also finally cracked and bought a PS3, which has surprisingly turned out to be one of the best purchases I made all year.
And so we come to December, which at any other time would have been a fairly normal month, except there’s this bothersome thing called Christmas that has seen me frantically running around getting various scripts tied up before everyone shuts down for the holidays.
Finally, throughout the entire year I was of course writing WASTELAND on top of everything else. In fact, since January I plotted two story arcs (The current story, Dog Tribes, and the next arc, Back On The Streets) and wrote eight issues—including #25, which will be a double-length anniversary issue. Other jobs come and go, but WASTELAND is always there, and will be for at least the next two years. I feel honoured to be writing one of the few creator-owned ongoing comic series that has actually survived, and indeed is thriving, in the current market. I sincerely thank everyone who supports us, because we literally couldn’t do it without you.
And that’s it for me until the New Year. Have a great holiday.
7th November 2008 / Musings
I don’t talk politics here, as this is a work journal (though you can follow me on Twitter if you want more informal occasional outbursts), but I do want to quickly say: congratulations, America.
You finally elected a President with more than half a brain cell. The world is proud of you.
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