Images of Tomorrow...

I think a good cover needs to be more than just a booty kicking image; There are alot of hot pieces of art floating about on the fronts of various books that do nothing for me because they don't communicate anything about what you are getting inside. Dan's final cover for Enlightenment: the devil you know isn't like that. I think is speaks volumes about what the book has to offer, and gives you a strong sense of the mood and tone of the story we have crafted. Sure, it's a strong piece. To me, though, it's more than just a pretty picture... it gives you a feel for our main character. Nadia Green isn't your adverage "horror story" chick. She isn't running around in the woods half naked with the star of the football team or screaming and helpless at the sign of some guy with a kitchen knife. She's strong, she doesn't take crap and she'll pop a cap in someone if need be to make it to the end of the day... I have loved writing about her, and I am glad I have her for many stories to come. Hopefully, you'll feel as excited as I do when you hold the final product in your hand in February.

Let me know what you think of the cover- we're pretty happy with the way it's come out.

Franken-fun!

Every once in a while, something just falls into my lap that makes my day. Take for example the comic Frank Gun, a WWII story about a Frankenstein monster GI who fights the Axis' favorite solders- Vampires and Werewolves! When Boone showed it to me & gave me the chance to write the dialogue for it, how could I resist? I mean, how often does a writer have the opportunity to do something so over the top and crazy with art as cool as that? I had to do it!

I tag teamed it with Joey, and we rolled through it- and, at times, were rolling on the floor laughing too. This is another of the great comics coming in Megazeen 12, so save your milkmoney kids... it's gonna be a hot one!

Oh, the covers you'll do!

The longer I am involved in comics, the more I am amazed as to what is deemed "critical" and what is deemed less-so. Take, for example, the comic book cover; With all the interest and attention people pay to it, you would think the right cover could cure cancer, cast out demons or turn horse dung into gold nuggets... And with some mainstream books I've seen lately slapping on alternate covers on book after book, they might be praying hard for the latter.

Dan and I have been hard at work on Enlightenment for years now, and in that time, many a cover idea has been bandied about. From the original B&W preview on to today, I know of close to a dozen radically different cover designs which have been worked through. We were told today, however, that the final final final final cover had to be in place. So what happened? 2 different colored versions were produced and we picked the one that grabbed us the most. Above is a detail of the inked cover- once I'm sure that everyone gives it the blessing it so richly deserves, I'll post the fruit of our labors here for all to see....

The eye...

As I mentioned in my last post, I am always writing something or other. Before I started on Enlightenment, I spent a year researching and writing another project with another artist. I won't go into all the details here- suffice it to say that he had an "idea" he wanted me to make into a story, and I quickly realized that his sketchy "vision" for a story could be accomplished in 2 pages. I liked his art, however, so I took the idea of this main character and built a complex, surreal story around it. It was one of the best things I have ever written, but because the artist decided he didn't want to actualy draw the blasted thing, the project was shelved. Furthermore, even though the story I wrote and the "idea" the artist had really don't have much in common, we had a dispute over who actually owns the thing and for the time being, it's going to have to sit in a notebook in my closet.


While I won't deny that I was kind of angry over the situation, I have recently been comforted by 2 facts: He bailed before he saw the bulk of the script, and while he's the copyright owner of the images he's done and the original title of the book, I legally own the rest . I went through all my e-mails with the artist and found that his entire contibution to the book consisted of a single 11 word sentence, which I have since removed. I have learned alot about writing since then, and I intend to re-work the script a bit and look for a new artist to make the zombie revenge epic I've written a reality...

One scene I wrote for that story which didn't really fit into the flow of the overall book was titled "The Eye." One of my good friends, Artist and EIC for Megazeen Joey Endres, just finished illustrating that script for MZ12. I'll let you all know when the book is available, so you can check out a small glimpse of what could have been and what might be again sometime in the future....

Before they were rock stars, pt. 1

If you are reading this blog, either you stumbled upon it because of some Google search gone horribly awry or you are interested somehow in the graphic novel series Enlightenment; Either way, the whole self promotion thing is a little bit of an iffy proposition for me and it's always been that way. I'm sorry if you come here with the expectation that I'm going to go on & on about myself and how great I am and how important every fart I make is, returning the world back to some cosmic balance like alot of writers seem to like to do. I'm not that guy.

I'm the kid who always loved words, loved reading, loved making stuff up... I learned how to read when I was around the age in the picture you see here- I have told alot of people over the years that mom taught me to read so young because she had time on her hands, which is half true. I just loved the idea that there were meanings in words on paper and to some extent I forced the issue. If you ask her, mom will tell you I used to drive her crazy in the supermarket, stopping her in front of signs as I worked out the words on them- even when I was re-reading the same sign for the 50th time.

Books were magical at that point. I remember seeing the word Author, and bugging my dad to explain to me how someone could spend all day putting words into sentences. Not that I thought it was a stupid idea- it was an AMAZING idea, and I found my lifelong goal at the age of 5. I attended a Protestant Christian elementary school, and my love of words set me apart quickly; While other kids learned the letter Q, I was reading the nap-time stories to the pre K class. I wrote my first story in Mrs. Zimmerman's kindergarden class and promptly created my first controversy, and although the school principal thought I was being out of line for writing what he felt was a "violent" story, my dad was completely supportive & I've never looked back.

From that point on, I've always found myself writing something- Poems, student film scripts, interviews, short stories, music reviews and lately, comics. I can't help it. It's like some kind of compulsion and I am always working ahead and trying to push myself to be better and write better. Maybe that's why I feel weird about patting myself on the back... because it's such a part of who I am to write, and in some ways I'm still that same goofy kid in the "fashionable" suit that I was when I started writing.

And for the record- Although I wrote & co-created the comic Billy!, Erica Well never saw that picture when she designed the character. That's just greater proof that God has a laugh every now and then...

File Under: Bad Taste?

Alot of people in the world of Comics do promotional materials- Preview comics, posters, cards... I've even seen animated DVD's promoting standard, static, monthly comics.

Dan and I like all that stuff- and we may do some of it from time to time ourselves- but if you come see us at an early appearance, you'll be able to score a crazy cool collectable.

While supplies last, we'll be offering the Enlightenment: the devil you know official jumping frog toy! Now you can recreate the horrifying acts of demonic possession found in our book, or just have a ball with our rubber legged faux amphibian- you make the call!

All frogs will come in special Enlightenment packaging. Stay tuned to learn how to get one of these extremely limited monstrosities at a Convention near you...

Stop me if you know this one...

If you have been reading my blog for a while, You've seen this image before. If you come out to see Dan and I at a show, we are planning to have prints of it available & we'll be siging them. We have other goodies planned, but more on that tomorrow....

And when you see us, ask Daniel why he censored the gun out of Green's hand... ;-)

Unlucky #13

Aside from all the other comics related stuff I have on my plate right now, I am also the "guest editor" for Megazeen # 13. Fitttingly, the theme of the issue is Failure. From what has been handed in so far, MZ13 is shaping up to be something for everyone to hate- almost every comic will push someone's buttons... The cover is by Boone- one of Dan and my favorite artists and may be one of the best yet.