28th January 2012 / Appearances / Coldest City / Pre-order
Two brief announcements, primarily for UK people:
— Next Saturday I’ll be joining Kieron Gillen and Doug Braithwaite, the geniuses behind Marvel’s JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY (and a host of other stuff, of course) for a signing at Travelling Man Newcastle.
That’s Saturday 4th February from 3-6pm. Do come along and see us if you’re around.
— You can now pre-order Limited Signed Bookplate Editions of THE COLDEST CITY, with new art from Sam and signed by us both. These editions are only available from either Page 45 or Travelling Man, and stocks are very limited, so order quickly. There are direct links to both stores’ pre-order pages at thecoldestcity.com. The Page 45 link also has a very kind and mostly spoiler-free review of the book, if that interests you.
(Yes, Americans, we’re working on making some available for you too. Watch this space.)
— [ADDENDUM] In my haste to post, I forgot to add that I also did an interview last week, with Laurent Jardin of French site Merlanfrit. Laurent has translated much of the DEAD SPACE series into French, so naturally we talked mostly about videogames. It’s a good one, and you can read it here (ou, vous pouvez lire la traduction Français ici).
12th January 2012 / Coldest City / Pre-order
THE COLDEST CITY, a new spy thriller graphic novel by me and artist Sam Hart, is now available for pre-order, to be published in May.
It’s set in West Berlin during the last days of the Cold War, and follows in the footsteps of classic espionage fiction like John Le Carré’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Ian Mackintosh’s The Sandbaggers, and Len Deighton’s Harry Palmer novels.
This is a book I’ve wanted to write — and the kind of book I’ve wanted to write — for years, ever since my stint on QUEEN & COUNTRY: DECLASSIFIED gave me the espionage bug (writing, that is — I was already a spy fiction reader, it just hadn’t occurred to me to write any before. Duh).
Here’s the back cover blurb…
As Communism collapses and the Berlin Wall crumbles, an undercover MI6 spy is killed while carrying priceless information — a list containing the name of every spy in Berlin.
But no list is found on his body.
MI6 sends veteran MI6 officer Lorraine Broughton to recover the list. But she walks into a powderkeg of social unrest, counter-espionage, defections gone bad, and secret assassinations…
THE COLDEST CITY is a brand new spy thriller from author Antony Johnston (Wasteland, Queen & Country: Declassified, Daredevil) and artist Sam Hart (Judge Dredd, Excalibur: The Legend of King Arthur) that revitalizes classic espionage fiction and revels in the paranoia and mistrust boiling over at the epicenter of the Cold War.
…which tells you pretty much all you need to know. But if you want more, and to read some sample scenes, there’s also an official website with more information, order codes, loads of artwork, and a preview of the book.
THE COLDEST CITY is the first in a planned series of connected books; I’m writing the second, DEAD OF WINTER, at the moment, and I already have plans for at least one more after that.
If that sounds good to you, please pre-order a copy of THE COLDEST CITY today.
4th November 2011 / Pre-order / Wasteland
So that big news I promised a while back has finally hit.
WASTELAND issue #33 will begin a new era for the series, as detailed on the Oni Press blog:
WASTELAND #33 hits store shelves on January 18th with a brand new arc, brand new artist and covers, and a special retail price of $1.
And, more to the point, with a new monthly schedule. I mentioned already that Justin Greenwood has been beavering away on art duties since last year, and I’m well ahead on scripts — in fact I finished writing #38, the last issue in this next story arc, months ago — so that we can avoid any more horrible delays like we’ve suffered over the past eighteen months. Justin has been awesome throughout, and is turning in some of his best work ever.
(Plus, I believe there are plans to accelerate the digital issue releases on Comixology, but I don’t know the details yet.)
Also as mentioned before, Chris Mitten is taking over covers. While this is awesome, it means we wave a sad, but fond, farewell to Ben Templesmith with issue #32 (out later this month). Ben has been a real trooper since the start of the book, fitting in cover paintings even as his career and increasingly peripatetic lifestyle exploded. We’ll miss him.
So, once again in summary: new monthly schedule, new story arc, new artist, new covers, only $1.
Read more (including my own hand-wringing apologies) and see previews of Justin’s fantastic art at the Oni Press blog.
3rd September 2011 / Anthologies / Pre-order
Regular readers will know I’m a regular attendee of the Thought Bubble festival, held every November in Leeds.
I’ll be there again this year, and I’ll post all the usual details closer to the time, but today I want to mention something a bit special they’ve put together — the first THOUGHT BUBBLE ANTHOLOGY, to be published in October.
Produced in support of the British children’s charity Barnardo’s and distributed through Image, the anthology features a veritable host of talent, including Andy Diggle, Mike Carey, Becky Cloonan, and even director (and comics fan) Stuart Gordon.
My own contribution is a short WASTELAND story, brilliantly illustrated by THE WALKING DEAD artist Charlie Adlard, which was very exciting for me.
You can pre-order the anthology now, from the September PREVIEWS catalogue. To read more on how it came about, check out an interview with editor (and TB organiser) Lisa Wood at Comic Book Resources.
16th June 2011 / On Sale / Pre-order / Shang-Chi / Wasteland
At last! I’ve been pushing for this for literally years, so I’m very happy to finally announce that WASTELAND is now available digitally through Comixology. That means you can read it in your web browser, in the Comixology app for iOS, and even on Android devices.
Currently, the first two issues are available — the double-length #1 is free, #2 (and subsequent issues, natch) is just $1.99.
And the backmatter is included, by the way; so you’re getting everything the regular issue readers get, but for almost half the price. Bargain. I don’t know the exact schedule for issue releases, but I do know it’s going to be regular, at least monthly. [ADDENDUM: Two weeks after launch we're already up to #4. At that rate the entire series so far will be up before the end of 2011.]
I’m very excited about this — like I said, it’s something I’ve advocated for years — and the Comixology guys have done a good job putting everything together with Oni. Nice.
And speaking of WASTELAND… yes, issue #31 is still horrendously late. But it’s being finished, and will be out soon, promise. After that comes an interlude issue with art by Brett Weldele, which is already drawn.
And after that, starting with issue #33, comes a new arc (‘Under the God’) drawn by Justin Greenwood, with covers by Chris Mitten. Justin is drawing issue #35 right now, so we’re already well ahead of ourselves. And, starting with that arc, we’re going to arrange the schedule to make sure we never ever face delays like this again.
I, and Oni, will have more to say about all that soon, before the next arc starts. For now, keep the faith.
…And on a slightly happier note, Marvel’s September solicitations are up; check out that cover for THE DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU #2. Seba’s on fire.
21st August 2010 / Pre-order / Shadowland
Some nice news about SHADOWLAND: BLOOD ON THE STREETS today (well, technically yesterday, but it was very late here in England when the news broke…!).
First, issue #1 has sold out, and gone back to a second printing. So if you missed out, and now want a copy of this second edition, you’ll need to give your comic retailer the new order code of JUL108023.
Meanwhile, issue #2 will be out in a couple of weeks, and Marvel have released an advance sneak preview of some lovely artwork.
Finally, reviewers said some very complimentary things about issue #1…
“Some of the best writing I’ve seen… This is definitely a series worth reading.” — Tor.com
“Johnston finds plenty of opportunity for strong character work… Silver Sable and Misty Knight stand out in particular.” — IGN
“Johnston brings his A game yet again… [he] delivers a Perfect 10 story.” — Cosmic Book News
“Blood On The Streets is my favorite part of Shadowland.” — Fantastic Fan Girls
…All of which makes me very chuffed indeed. The full news article is available here.
19th July 2010 / Interviews / Pre-order / Shadowland
Issue #1 of SHADOWLAND: BLOOD ON THE STREETS goes on sale next month.
Now, Comic Book Resources takes a look at the series’ four major players — Silver Sable, Misty Knight, Paladin and The Shroud — from the perspective of the NYPD’s Lt Rafe Scarfe, as part of their ongoing Shadowland feature The Unusual Suspects.
Remember, books like this live and die by pre-orders and advance interest. If you want to read BLOOD ON THE STREETS, if you want to make sure your retailer has copies, if you want to support these characters and increase the chances of them showing up again… please tell your retailer that you want the series, and even pre-order it if you’re able. The order code for issue #1 is JUN100581.
10th May 2010 / Pre-order / Shadowland
If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve seen me refer a few times recently to an unannounced project known only as $SECRETMARVELBOOK. Well, the secret is out.
SHADOWLAND: BLOOD ON THE STREETS is a miniseries that will run parallel to SHADOWLAND itself later this year. It’s a street-level noir-ish mystery featuring four cult favourite characters: Misty Knight, The Shroud, Silver Sable and Paladin.
Four very different heroes, thrown together when they discover a series of events that Daredevil won’t acknowledge: the Hand is killing low-rent mobsters throughout New York, without trial or recourse.
Illustrated by the fantastic Wellinton Alves (who also drew a story for me in YUGGOTH CREATURES, way back when!), BLOOD ON THE STREETS is monthly, and begins in August. You can read more about the book, the characters and how I came to be writing it, and see some teaser art, at…
— Marvel.com
— IGN
— Newsarama
…and of course I’ll keep everyone updated here and on Twitter.
(Yes, there was a date embargo on all these interviews. How did you guess?)
30th August 2009 / Anthologies / Pre-order / Wasteland
Two things to announce today:
WASTELAND Book 05
I don’t often mention solicitations for the collected editions of WASTELAND, but this one deserves your attention.
Book 05: Tales Of The Uninvited is a collection of ‘interlude’ issues — the one-shots by guest artists that we run between the main story arcs, and which aren’t collected in the regular book editions.
There’s a good reason we don’t do that, which is outlined in my FAQ. But despite our (oft-repeated) assurances, we still regularly get people asking us why they’re not collected, whether we’re going to put them in their own collection, or what?
So, we decided to put this collection together. Never let it be said we don’t listen to our fans.
The book includes issues #7 (with art by Carla Speed McNeil), #14 (Joe Infurnari), #20 (Chuck BB) and #25 (regular series artist Chris Mitten, working in full colour paints). It goes on sale in November, and can be preordered now from your comic retailer with the code SEP090939.
LAST DRINK BIRD HEAD
“What an odd title!” You may be thinking, and if so, you’re thinking exactly what I was when Jeff Vandermeer first approached me about this project.
LAST DRINK BIRD HEAD is a flash fiction (i.e. ultra-short stories) anthology benefitting charities working to promote literacy. It’s edited by Jeff and his wife Ann, who gave contributors a single editorial directive. It went like this:
Last Drink Bird Head.
Don’t think; just write.
So I did. And so did Peter Straub, Stephen R Donaldson, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Caitlin R Kiernan, Brian Evenson, Nicholas Royle, Gene Wolfe, and many, many other writers substantially more talented and famous than I.
I’ve read the manuscript, and it’s chock full of great, imaginitive pieces. Plus, you know, charidee. Keep an eye on Jeff’s blog for more updates, and I’ll announce here when the book is available.
17th June 2009 / Dead Space / Interviews / On Sale / Pre-order / Wasteland
WASTELAND BOOK 04: DOG TRIBE goes on sale today. Collecting issues #21-24, this volume tells the story of how Michael and Abi’s quest for A-Ree-Yass-I is almost stopped before it starts, as they find themselves caught between two rival Dog Tribes fighting for supremacy.
The ISBN is 978-1934964170, and for comic stores the Diamond order code is APR090964.
In other WASTELAND news, the double-sized, full colour anniversary issue #25 goes on sale next week, the 24th June. That’s a fair bit later than we solicited for, and no-one is more embarrassed about that than me, but I promise you it’s worth the wait. Chris’ painted art is gorgeous, and even seven months after I wrote it, I’m still pretty pleased with the story. [ADDENDUM: I've just been told it's likely to actually be the week after, owing to distribution delays. Sigh.]
You can read an interview with us about WASTELAND #25, and see an exclusive 13-page (!) preview, at Comic Book Resources.
You may also have noticed a couple of recent additions to the Coming Soon sidebar, over there on the right; DEAD SPACE: EXTRACTION goes on sale, exclusively for the Wii, in September. Before that, though, you’ll be able to get your hands on the EXTRACTION comic, a one-shot issue that ties in with both EXTRACTION and the original DEAD SPACE game, once again featuring the inestimable Ben Templesmith on art duties.
And finally, the new comics blog Exquisite Things asked me to contribute to their Simple Headphone Mind section, wherein creators reveal what music they’ve been listening to recently. No surprises there for anyone familiar with my Last.fm page, but fun nevertheless.
(Blog founder Matthew Dick is also part of UK noisemeisters Analysis of Bison Kills, by the way, and if you’re into a bit of grind and doom you should check them out. Because they’re brilliant.)
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