It’s all about the Fantasy!

 Hey there kids, I've been silent for a while (life, eh?) . but I have some new exciting news. Remember a few months back when a short story of mine appeared in a Western Anthology? Well, on December 15, 2021, I'll have another short story of mine appearing in another anthology. This time the theme is Fantasy and Sci-Fi. 

Seriously, how cool is that? 

That's right, my short story, There Be Dragons will appear in a new two-volume anthology from Writer’s Unite! entitled Dimensions of Fantasy! 

I don't know about all'y'all, but I'm wicked excited about it!

Now, I know that all you kids want to get yer hands on a copy (hey, so am I), but you are all going to have to wait a little bit on that. Preorders for the ebook will ba available on Amazon as of December 1st, with preorders for the print book available shortly afterwards. As soon as I have the links for each, I'll post them here as well as across my social media platforms.

In the mean time you can still get print copies of the western anthology Writer’s Unite Dimensions of the Wild West right here and ebook versions here. 

Oh, and if you are a western fan, but like illustrated stories, you can find an illustrated story of mine (with amazing art from John Orlando and Tom Ahearn, then you should check out Crackerjack Comics #3 from InDELLible Comics. 

Here's a copy of the cover for Dimensions of the Wild West Vol 2:

And here is the cover of Crackerjack Comics #3:

Oh, and because I do think it is wicked cool, here is my name as it appears on the back cover of Dimensions of Fantasy:

More info when it is available! 

Returning to the Old West and More

 

How totally cool is this?

No sooner did my prose story Ghost Dance wind up in the Writers Unite anthology Dimension of the Wild West (Vol. 2) than a second Western tale of mine (this time an illustrated story) show up in InDELLible Comics publication, Crackerjack Comics #3. 

The story American Eagle: Wülf in the Fold was illustrated by the ever-grumpy John Orlando, and the always-terrific, Tom Ahearn. Both of these guys are amazingly creative (In fact, not only is John an incredible artist, but he and his lovely wife comprise the musical duo The Flushing Queens).

Tom, on the other hand, has previously illustrated more than just a couple of my stories for comics published by the Ever-jaunty Jim Main’s Main Enterprises (a portfolio of my work for him can be found here). The folder contains not only publications where stories and articles I’ve written for him, but numerous publications where I produced the interior design, layout, and prepress for him. Check it out (go ahead, I’ll wait).

Needless to say, that’s not all I’ve been doing these days. I have also been producing a number of books for the prolifically-talented Paul Kupperberg. These books include (but are not limited to) Direct Comments, JSA: Ragnarok, Emma’s Landing, and others (if you’re looking for a graph production artist, feel free to contact me). 

Oh, and if you want to see some of the art that John and Tom did for my 2nd Western, check it out. (I did the duotone coloring, and the lettering). 

That's all for now, kids, more coolness when it happens.

 

2019 was a very busy year!

So, it occurs to me that not only have I not posted here in a bit, but that I've actually been quite busy over the past several months, and the probability exist that I have been remiss about informing all'y'all about what I've been up to during the past year or so.

So, to rectify, I’ve decided to take a few moments and bring all'y'all up to speed on what I’ve been doing.
I suppose that at the top of the list, I’ve been posting movie and comic reviews over at HubPages. You should head over there and sign up to subscribe and receive regular updates as to what I find cool enough to write about.

Some of the film reviews (those dealing with monsters and creatures of the night), tend to wind up over on the We Love Monsters Facebook page as well as in their print editions(s).

As far as comicbook writing goes, I want to start back in 2018 (actually) with the inclusion of my short story Birds of Prey in the Wunderfunders anthology Memorial, The Great War Centennial Anthology The book was published for the 100^th anniversary of the first World War (The war to end all wars).

My short story told the tale of an American who witnessed both the initial flights of Gustave Whitehead and the Wright Brothers, then went off to England to help in the war effort over there prior to the U.S. entering the war. His story (briefly) documents the use of airplanes in the war effort.

My story was penciled by Greg Kimmet, inked by Dustin Pageloff, colored by Melissa Compton, and lettered by Jason Sylvestree, with the splash page colored by Christopher Geary.

Memorial is a sequential art anthology to commemorate those who fought and fell in the course of the first world war, and to benefit the children of the world caught up in the wars still being fought. All proceeds from the book will be donated to Warchild UK.

Next up (in 20190), I was invited by Ramon Gil to participate in a Kickstarter anthology project of his, by writing a short science fiction story (which Ramon then illustrated) for this wonderful SciFies Anthology. My story had kind of a fun twist to it, one which I believe came out very well.

I had previously worked with Ramon on a one-page story for a Phrases to Pages story for Pronto Comics, as well as having contributed the introduction to his first SciFies collection.

Working with Ramon, is always a pleasure (He has also invited me to attend his FIT Diversity Con in NYC on two occasions.)

This was followed by a short Halloween story that I penned for InDELLible Comics’ Tales from the Tomb anthology (The Witch and the Wolf, illustrated by the ever amazing Carl Morgans). InDELLible is comprised of a consortium of writers and artist who have taken it upon themselves to revive the (now Public Domain) characters of the defunct publisher, Dell Comics.

InDELLible also publishes the Popular Comics anthology (which is now up to issue #3). Issue #4 (due out in 2020) will (hopefully) have short story by me included that stars The Golden Age Owl Girl. Other InDELLible comics include Cartoon Cuties by Rock Baker, The House of Spades (which will contain the third chapter of my Wülf Girlz series), and CrackerJack Funnies which carries a Chanukah story of mine (Home for the Holidays), illustrated by the wicked-talented Carl Morgans.

InDELLible also published (in 2019) an InDELLiprose edition that contained prose stories of these same Dell heroes. That initial edition contained a short story of min featuring the Golden Age Owl Girl entitled Byline. A follow-up prose story with both Owl Girl and The Owl (entitled Hate by any Other Name) will appear in the second edition, due out in 2020.

(As soon as these other stories are available, I’ll be posting links as to where folks can acquire them.) In the mean time, just to keep you interested and to whet your appetite, I'll tease you with just a taste of the amazing artwork by Carl.

While these are the most recent, works that I have penned, there is also a short prose story of mine in the Metahumans vs. the Ultimate Evil entitled Northern Lite from 2016. I do have a couple of other short stories that have been written and are slated for publication; more on those as they come to fruition.

In addition to these stories of mine, I have contributed to some other publications, including two articles in Munster Memories, then there is an old interview of mine that I conducted with Mike Grell that was added to the TwoMorrows book by Dewey Cassell — Mike Grell: Life is Drawing without an Eraser, and of course the two Stan Lee books about drawing superheroes, Stan Lee's How to Draw Superheroes and Stan Lee's Master Class in which I wrote four chapters each (allowing me to say, with no ego, and in my best Chevy Chase voice, “I'm Stan Lee and you're not.”)

Then, not only am I a fairly prolific writer, but I’m something of a one-man production company as well in that I have preform pre-press production and editorial tasks for several clients, including Main Enterprises, Stone Island Comics, Red Anvil/JGM, Glass House Graphics, Macrospasm Studios, Hippy Comix, Big Apple Convention, and others. Some of the many books and magazines on which I have worked appear in the image below.

More to follow as the year progresses...

Dana Crumb has passed away

This was just passed along to me, and I was asked to share it:

Dana Crumb passed away last night in Ukiah Hospital in Ukiah, CA after an illness.

Dana was the first wife of Underground artist Robert Crumb and the author of Eat It! — a cookbook illustrated by Bob Crumb (among other titles). Dana was the first to distribute Robert’s books in San Francisco by walking the town with them stashed in a baby carriage in the 60s.

She was also prominently featured in Robert’s early books. Dana housed and fed many cartoonists in lean times (including many of the top names in the Under Ground Comix Community) and was a constant benefactor to her community.

John Orlando and his wife, Jill (who had been staying with Dana for the past year) are currently under her and her son Adam Crumb’s auspices.

Their generosity toward us and those before has been immeasurable