Here’s one I wasn’t sure would ever see the light of day (no pun intended): LIGHT OF THY COUNTENANCE will be published by Avatar Press in January, according to Avatar Creative Director Mark Seifert in a thread on Whitechapel, Warren Ellis’ message board.
LIGHT is an adaptation of Alan Moore’s damning poem/essay on television, a piece which is both enlightening and disturbing, and is fully painted by Felipe Massafera. If you don’t recognise the name, Felipe also painted the cover to the HYPOTHETICAL LIZARD collection that came out last year. There’s a Flickr gallery of some interior LIGHT pages, plus a larger version of the cover, here.
I actually finished the script for this book more than five years ago (!) but finding someone capable of illustrating it has been tough—it’s a very demanding script that requires a fanatical attention to detail, enormous amounts of visual research, and a somewhat surrealist imagination. I’m glad to see it’s finally on the way.
[ Alan Moore / Pre-order ]
So I’m pretty sure this hasn’t been officially announced yet, but the cover to the first volume of WOLVERINE: PRODIGAL SON is now on Amazon.
(Except, um, it’s in black and white for some reason. I’ve seen the cover colours myself, so I know this isn’t final art, but I also know Amazon often requires covers many months in advance. I therefore assume this is just an old mockup done specifically for them. Hopefully it’ll be fixed soon enough.) [The final coloured cover is now up for all to see, so I’ve altered the image here.]
What’s more interesting is there’s now an official release date of April 7th 2009, and all this means it is, of course, available for preorder from Amazon US (or Amazon UK if you’re over here, naturally).
Speaking of release dates, DEAD SPACE has been brought forward by a week (again!) and will now ship on the 14th October in America.
There’s no official word on whether the European release will be moved forward too, but the expectation is that it’ll follow over here on the 17th October.
[ Dead Space / Wolverine / Videogames / Pre-order ]
So it’s raining, my study light has been on since 5pm, and I’m wearing a pullover indoors. Yep, must be autumn. And with it comes an emergent trend, that of being hella busy (as Teh Kidz say) from now until the end of the year. This is the third year in a row that it’s all suddenly gone mad as December approaches. Why? I have no idea.
Quick progress report, then:
WASTELAND #16 is written. Should also have #17, and maybe even #18, scripted before the end of the year (this arc is definitely going to run to #18, now). Joe Infurnari is hard at work on #14 right now, and Chris is starting work on #15. All going smoothly.
Still with our friends in the desert, WASTELAND BOOK 02: SHADES OF GOD has just been solicited for pre-order. It collects issues #8-#13, i.e. the entire second story arc, and will be in stores at the start of December. Makes a lovely holiday gift, assuming your loved ones are into grim, violent stories about slavery and the end of the world.
DEAD SPACE, the new book I’m doing with Ben Templesmith, is well and truly out of the bag, thanks to a huge article in Game Informer magazine… Which should be a big clue, if you didn’t already know. Yes, DEAD SPACE is a prequel tie-in to EA’s newly announced sci-fi horror videogame. It’s planned for six issues, and #1 should launch in February. Ben and I will also be at San Francisco’s WonderCon in Feb. More details on that closer to the time.
SKELETON KEY: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL is now well underway. I’m enjoying this one a lot - it’s a very different book to the first two novels, as anyone who’s read them will know, so it’s presenting a lot of interesting challenges.
BLACKGUARD has stalled a little, purely because of the aforementioned sudden busy period. But I’m chipping away, little by little, and I’m pretty pleased with it so far. The intention is to do intelligent fantasy that owes more to George RR Martin than Robert E Howard, but for kids. Fingers crossed, eh?
There’s also yet another batch of Secret Projects that I’m in discussions about. Can’t say anything at the moment, of course, but if you thought DEAD SPACE came out of left field, well, watch this space.
And that’s about it. I apologise in advance if updates are even more sporadic than usual between now and the end of the year, but as you now know, at least I have a good excuse…
[ Dead Space / Wasteland / Alex Rider / Pre-order ]
If you fancy a WASTELAND refresher, or just enjoy hearing me ramble on about it - yes, both of you - there’s a new “catch-up” feature and interview over at Comic Book Resources right now.
Also, the first trade paperback collection, WASTELAND Book I: Cities In Dust has now been announced and will hit shelves in March 2007. It collects the first six issues - that’s 160 pages, thanks to issue #1 being double-length - for just $11.95. So now those of you “waiting for the trade” have no excuse. Go forth and pre-order.
[ Wasteland / Interviews / Pre-order ]
WASTELAND issue #2 is now available for pre-order, featured in the current issue of Diamond PREVIEWS. The order code to give your comics retailer is JUN063298 .
The official WASTELAND site, thebigwet.com, has been updated accordingly - you can now read part two of our peek behind the scenes at Christopher Mitten’s sketchbook, there’s a whole new bunch of wallpapers and icons to download (now also including link banners, forum avatars and LJ icons) and of course you can read the full teaser text for issue #2. As a great philosopher once wrote, it’s just a click away. And don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed to stay updated.
Finally, the tabled publication date for the STORMBREAKER graphic novel is July 3rd. There have been rumours and stories about the film (and thus the GN) having its release date being bumped back until autumn, but it appears they’re unfounded. The film is set for July 21st, the book for July 3rd. (In the UK. I have no idea about US dates.)
[ Wasteland / Alex Rider / Pre-order ]
The new Diamond PREVIEWS catalogue goes on sale today, featuring the solicitation for WASTELAND #1, my new ongoing post-apocalyptic sci-fi series with Christopher Mitten (and covers by Ben Templesmith). The series debuts on July 12th with a double-length issue (for the same $2.99 as a regular issue) and is available for pre-order immediately. The order code to give your retailer is MAY063335.
To launch the series we’ve created an official website about the book, featuring previews, desktops, character biographies, behind the scenes features, ordering information and more… including a theme tune! The site already has loads of content, and it’ll be updated when each new issue hits the shelves. Go visit thebigwet.com to see for yourself, or subscribe to the RSS feed.
We’ve also made a 21-PAGE PREVIEW of issue #1 available, in a variety of formats. You can read it as JPEGs in your browser, download a PDF or CBR directly from the official website, or even download the CBR via BitTorrent. It’s up to you: just click here and choose your preferred format.
Finally, there’s a huge article about the book on Comic Book Resources, where WASTELAND is currently the “spotlight feature”, featuring an in-depth interview with me and the JPEG version of the issue #1 preview.
The journey begins here.
[ Wasteland / Free Stuff / Interviews / Pre-order ]
Looks like I can finally tell you about that “secret” horror series I’ve been working on for Avatar… I’m taking over the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE comics from Brian Pulido, starting in June with the FEARBOOK - a one-shot comic featuring a neat little psycho-horror called “The Valentine’s Day Massacre”.
I was hired to inject some dark, psychotic atmosphere into the book, and I’m having a lot of fun playing with the twisted minds of these characters, but be warned: it’s still the TEXAS GODDAMN CHAINSAW MASSACRE, so it’s pretty gory and twisted, and definitely not for the faint of heart. The ending of the FEARBOOK story in particular is rather sick.
Daniel HDR, who’s already a stalwart of Avatar’s New Line horror books, is handling the art. You can read more about the story here.
The FEARBOOK is available for pre-order right now, featured in the April issue of PREVIEWS (the one with Matt Fraction’s CASANOVA on the front). The order code for your comics retailer is APR062979.
You can see all of Avatar’s solicits for this month, including the ninety-six FEARBOOK variant covers, on their official site.
[ Pre-order ]
And just to prove that the stereotype about writers being absent-minded is sadly all too true, today I realised I have another book solicited in this month’s PREVIEWS that I hadn’t even mentioned yet.
F-STOP is a romantic comedy set in the world of high fashion photography, in which a talentless but charming photographer somehow finds himself lauded around the world… Then discovers what the lies that got him there will cost.
My collaborator on this one is Matthew Loux, previously seen in REFLUX COMICS and GETTING THE SEX OUT OF THE WAY. He’s great.
Published by Oni Press, F-STOP is featured on page 310 of the November PREVIEWS, scheduled for publication in January 2005. Give your comics retailer order code NOV042850.
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 ]
More FOUR LETTER WORLDS news: Eric Stephenson has posted Steven Griffin’s lovely cover design, and the full details of the book (including ordering details) on his website. It’ll be solicited in next month’s PREVIEWS, due out January 2005, so I’ll repeat the solicitation info here closer to the time.
[ Pre-order / Links / Anthologies ]
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