Yes, I'm still “nearly” famous!

So, if you are in the area of ‪‎St. Marks Comics‬ in NYC (http://www.stmarkscomics.com) on Monday, October 5th between 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. you will be able to catch myself, and a host of other talented comicbook creators (including Mark Mazz, Ramon Gil, Tom DeFalco, Chris Torres, Michael Sarrao, and others autographing some of our works, including Ramon's most amazing 72 page Trade Paperback, Scifies, from Atlas Unleashed. 

The book includes a Foreword by Tom DeFalco and an intro by yours truly.

That's Monday night October 5th between 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.

You simply won't regret the experience. 

Saturday in the Bronx

Today I'm spending the day attending my buddy, Ray Felix's third annual Bronx Hero Con (held at the Bronx Museum).

While here, I donated a pint of blood (yes, MY blood) to NY Blood Center (I have previously given some 16 gallons to the Red Cross).

We're having a good time so you should come on down and have a good time with us. Right now I'm sitting next to my old buddy John A. Wilcox.

The place is hopping with all sorts of funnybook celebrities, and folks of interest, from Jim Salcrup (Papercutz) to J.M DeSantis, and Mark Mazz (Atlas Unleashed).

the place is packed, and there are great panels, workshops and much, much more. So stop what you are doing and come on by to help us celebrate the arts here at the Bronx Museum.

Saturday May 12 is the 3rd Annual Bronx Hero Con

I've been attending the Bronx Hero Con since it’s inception in 2010. I’ll be attending again this year. Here are a couple of video clips from past years. The first clip is from the ’10 show I show up at around the 2:40 mark with Mark Mazz of Atlas Unleashed comics.



This second clip is from the 2011 show where I was interview once again with my good pal, Ed Traquino:



The Bronx Hero Con is the brainchild of Ray Felix who is truly one heck of a guy.

Bronx Hero Con 2011

OK, so this past weekend I went to the third annual Bronx Hero Con 2011 (although I do wish that it wasn’t on Free Comic Book Day, but that’s and entirely different post) . Needless to say, I had a great time, and well, not only did I get the opportunity to spend the day with some of my very good friends, I did also get to co-interview (along with Mark Mazz) Don McGregor, which was very cool.

I think that the best part of the day was when we took Don out to dinner, and we got to listen to many behind-the-scenes stories about what Marvel and comics were like back in the day. Very entertaining.

Also it was engaging to learn that there were so many fights over what kinds of stories Don was “allowed” to tell, because — from my own recollections — of those days and stories, that they seemed organic, and, well, natural. I honestly don't recall any controversies (at least in my — admittedly small — circles of comics) at that time.

Beyond that, just spending the day with Ray Felix, and all of the very talented Bronx comicbook creators, was well worth the time.

Oh yeah, in case I haven’t mentioned as of yet. Ray is publishing an anthology comic about Bronx Heroes, and well, he’s accepted a concept of mine as one of the on-going series within the comic. The original series was entitled Strēt Lēgəl (Street Legal). Well, I extracted the core essence of that series (the two central characters), and am using them to preview the concept (now called “Don’t Call Us Heroes”. Well, (and much to my surprise), Ray recruited the very talented Carl Kent who produced some very outstanding character designs of my characters, and, well completely blew me away with how totally cool they looked.

I’m very excited about (finally) getting this concept up off the ground, and I’m really hoping that I’ll be able to convince CK to hop on board and lend his incredible talents to this project of mine that is dear to my heart.

Anyways, I just wanted to tell you all about the Bronx Hero Con, (and Strēt Lēgəl / Don’t Call Us Heroes) and all of the fun that I had there, and all of the wicked-cool comics that I scored (which I’ll be reviewing and posting about in short order). So, stay tuned, and (as was I) be prepared to be amazed by the trully amazing talent that you’ll discover in the Bronx.

Here are some pics from the Con:

Ray Felix

Don McGregor & Mark Mazz

Don & Mark

Don & Mark (again)

Michele St. Martin

Jim Web (taken @ MoCCA Fest)

Cool new Marvel (and other Funnybook) Swag

The other day my lovely wife was out and about and discovered a very cool coloring book featuring the Superhero Squad version of the Avengers.

What makes this coloring book extra cool is that in addition to the English text in the comic, there is also Spanish.

Yep, each page contains all of the captions in both English and Spanish. Pretty cool, eh?

Then My older brother, Ron, passed along to me a nifty-cool Spidey Bucket (that I suspect used to belong to my nephew, Tony-o).

Don’t fret for Tony-o though, he’s now 16 or 17 and while still a Spidey fan, is now distracted by other stuff, and so is OK with bequeathing me this (and presumably some of his other Spidey) toy(s).

Next up, is an old photo that was taken of me during last years NY Comic Con. As you can see, I'm standing “inside” a Spider-Man standee. Well even though this pic was taken several months ago, I never really looked at it, and it wasn’t until I was preparing it for this post did I realize that my good buddy, Mark Mazz was standing behind me.

Nice guy, eh?

I’m also including a shot of the fabulous Jim Web who I spent time with this past weekend over at MoCCA.

Finally (also while I was at MoCCA), I met a young cartoonist (14-years old!) named Emma t. Carps who publishes a comic called The Chapel Chronicles. She also produces greeting cards, post cards, buttons, and other cool stuff.

Her comic is delightful, and you should check out her stuff, as she has mad talent (as my own daughter would say).

Schizophrenia

Both titles are horror anthologies.

OK, I’ve been hinting about this for quite some time, but haven’t yet shown it off, it is the first title of Atlas Unleashed, the start-up publisher that I’m associated with these days. My good friend, Mark Mazz is the publisher, President of the company, Visionary, and inspiration behind it all (he is also the constant buzzing sound I hear in the back of my head whenever I fall behind on the creative end of my own work).

This book has been out for a month or so now, and will be one of the titles that we will have on display at our table at the upcoming New York Comic Con (October 8 - 10, 2010 at the Jacob K. Javits Center). To be sure, we are hoping to have a couple of other titles also available, but more on them later. Right now I want to talk about Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is the sister title to Psychosis! (to be re-released and retitled Psychosis Today! If Psychosis Today! is the doorway to madness, then Schizophrenia steps on through to the other side.

Both titles are horror anthologies that delve into the darker things that frighten us. Personally, I find the stories that I read in these two books much scarier than most of the hack and slash films that proport to be horror films.

In this debut issue we find a disturbing tail written by Nathan Barker and illustrated the the always talented and ever-lovely Shawnti Therrien entitled Static Lullaby, This is followed by Angry Man, which was written Acevedo-Marcarzan, and is one of the last stories illustrated by Rusty Haller. Compulsion is by Rich Terdoslavich, and the issue is rounded out by the Mark Mazz & James Web story A visit with good ole...Doctor Frommenstadt.

I hightly suggest that you get uyour hands on a copy of this extraordinary comic, and, well, enjoy yourself. Hopefully we will have e-commerce up on the website soon, but in the meantime, if you get yourselves to the NY Comic Con, you'll be able to find us in Artist's Ally. Swing on by, say high, and pursue this and the other comics we'll be selling there.

Introducing Atlas Unleashed!

For several months I’ve been talking about this new publisher that I’ve been working with to develop new properties, and bring some older ones back into the limelight. The name of that company is Atlas Unleashed. Well, I am very pleased to say that the first issue under the Atlas Unleashed logo has hit the shelves.

That’s right, effendis, Schizophrenia #1 is out there, and it is a very compelling package. It contains four stories that range from the eerily compelling, haunting dream-like state of by Nathaniel Baker & Shawnti Therrien; to the off-kilter oddness of Angry Man by Acevedo Marzan & the late, great, Rusty Haller. Then there is the Spartan starkness of Rich Terdoslavich’s Compulsion, and finally, rounded out by A visit with good Ole...Doctor Frommenstadt by our imperious leader, mark mazz aided and abetted by the able-bodied Mr. James Webb.

Yep, this first issue of our premier title dares our readers to — quite literally — “Unleash the nightmares within...”

Yeah, we certainly have our work cut out for ourselves, and yep, we truly believe ourselves up for the task at hand. We will be debuting the comic at the upcoming NY ComicCon. Make sure you stop up and talk to us.

More about the War

So, a few days back I ran on-and-on about the upcoming War of the Independents that my buddy Dave Ryan is magnificently orchestrating telling you all about the inclusion of the inclusion of Sean Koury's Bounty Hunter, and my very own Wülf Girlz. in this magnum opus, and, bone-head that I am, I completely forgot to mention the Mark Mazz’s King of the Realm and Shawnti Therrien’s Meth in the mix.

Both Mark’s & Shawnti’s work was on display in the first three issues of GWP’s critically acclaimed Psychosis! (soon to be reborn as Psychosis Today from Atlas Unleashed (which, I might add will not only also be publishing the further adventures of the aforementioned Wülf Girlz and my other on-going project, the resurrected Agent Unknown.

Mark’s tale postulates a world where Great Britain's royalty is secretly a race of bat-like creatures, while Shawnti’s character Meth is a tortured soul (who happens to be a vampire) who is in an eternal search for the vampire that caused him to enter into this hellish un-living nightmare into which he as fallen.

Both are powerful stories told by supremely-talented creators, and, should prove to be interesting additions to Dave’s story. As I mentioned in my earlier post, Dave plans on releasing the first issue at this year’s NY ComicCon, so if you weren’t planning on attending prior to this announcement, I would strongly suggest that you change your plans now and come on out, because it is going to be huge.

Anyway, I don’t want anyone to think that I was slighting my good friends and Atlas Unleashed collaborators, I — well — simply flaked. Sorry guys, you folk rock!

MoCCA Magic

So, Atlas Unleashed spent the weekend at MoCCA Fest 2010 this past weekend, and well, we dd pretty well, Company bossman, Mark Mazz, Badgirl Shawnti Therrien, and yours truly were joined by friends and fans as we celebrated the Sundance Film Festival of the Indie Comic Art world.

We moved some of our product, (I sold a couple of three-packs of Agent Unknown, thanks to a wicked-cool cover art from Springload & Renegade artist Chris Torres, and superior production by Mr. Mazz).

We are now looking forward to our next event witch will be the Bronx Heroes Convention on Free Comic Book Day over at Hostos College in the Bronx. Hope to see you all there!

We'll have all of our backstock, as well as some brand spaknin'-new material that will be unveiled for the very first time.

How cool is that? eh?

Closing in on it all

So, I spent today in the City, at the NY Comicbook Marketplace, siting at the Atlas Unleashed table with both Mark Mazz and Shawnti Therrien. Well, while I was there I did get the opportunity to wander around the place for a bit, and while doing so, I managed to pick up three issues of Amazing Spider-Man that I was missing.

So now I have ASM (V2) #s 19, 22, & 25. This means that I am only missing three issues of ASM to complete my full run of this series.

Seriously, how cool is that?

C2E2

So I (finally) had lunch with Mark Fitch, who works over at Reed Exhibitions, and has a big hand in putting on the NY ComicCon. I met Mark some six months ago when I met him on the train platform as we were both headed into the kick-off event of Commicbook Happy Hour over at Dave & Busters in Times Square. (The Reed offices are a stone’s throw from my house — not that I would actually throw a stone at these guys).

Well, Mark was such an amiably guy that he not only offered me a beer on the train on the way in (he brought a six-pack with him and the crew from Reed), but he went with me to MidTown Comics to (try) and meet up with Chris Giarrusso who was doing a signing. Well, we wound up missing Chris (his signing was later than we originally believed), but we did have a nice chat.

Several more chats later, I introduced him to Mark Mazz and we put down a deposit for a table at ComicCon 2010 for Atlas Unleashed. Anyways, Mark F. & I kept talking about having lunch, and we both finally managed to link up our schedules.

he took me on a tour of the Reed offices, and introduced me to several of the key personnel, which is when I discovered that an old business associate of mine is also working up there as well. Well Georgette (my friend) talked to me a bit about some further business that Atlas Unleashed could do with ComicCon.

More on that as it develops. In the meantime. Here is a cool button that is for Reed’s upcoming Chicago show, C2E2.

Big Apple/Wizard World NY ’09

Well kids, I just came back from the first-ever, Big Apple Wizard show, and let me tell you that I had a heckava time.

I met my buddy Mark Mazz in the City, and we had breakfast, then trudged into the show where were comped in courtesy of Peter Katz of Big Apple (Thanks Pete) then we spent much of the morning wandering around the show, meeting old friends, and checking out the sites.

After a while we wound up in Artists’ Ally, where we hung with old friends, before meeting up with Ed Pereira, and having lunch with none other than Linda Hamilton (Terminator), Nichelle Nichols (Star Trek), John Schnider (Dukes of Hazard/Smallville), and Todd Bridges (Diff’rent Strokes).

And no, I’m neither kidding or exaggerating in the slightest. These stars and us (along with pal Keith Williams) sat around for a bit of time eating and swapping stories about our kids and stuff (Nichelle told us how Lt. Uhura got her name).

This was seriously the best con that I’ve attended in quite some time (not to mention that I scored some 30 Spidey titles in my on-going effort to complete my entire run of every original Spidey story and appearance published.

Now it is bed time. Tomorrow is another day.

Funnybooks, Funnybooks, who’s got Funnybooks?

So over the past couple of months or so I’ve been reading comics (duh) and, well, there are a few that I’d like to talk about for a bit:

First up, I’d like to talk about a couple of IDW comics that I really enjoyed. Grimjack: The Manx Cat is not only the revival of the First Comics character, Grimjack (as penned by his co-creators, John Ostrander & Timothy Truman). To those who know, Grimjack is the street name of John Gaunt, a sword-for-hire, ex-paramilitary, war veteran and ex-child gladiator. He operates from Munden’s Bar in the Pit, a slum area of Cynosure, a pan-dimensional city to which all dimensions connect.

Well, this issue marks the first appearance of Grimjack under the IDW banner in a deal that was cut with ComicMix to co-publish some comic titles. Perhaps the best part of this story is that it jumps right in to the tale without wasting much time explaining who John Gaunt or the people who swirl around him are. Ostrander jumps right in and delivers a ripping yarn that harkens back to the glory days of the series.

As it turns out, Grimjack is hired to steal back a stolen bit of merchandise, only his task isn’t as simple as it sounds at first. Needless to say, it is a thoroughly entertaining tale. I highly recommend that you pick up a copy. this stuff is classic.

Another fun comic is Hero Comics, a compilation of short stories that was assembled by the folks at The Hero Initiative. This very cool comic delivers a pile of very cool stuff, including a new Howard Chaykin American Flagg, alongside the works of Gene Colan, Bill Willingham, Gene Ha, William Messner Loebs and others.

The Proceeds of which go towards The Hero Initiative which is the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation that is dedicated strictly to helping comicbook creators in need. The fund helps creates a financial safety net for the creators of yesterdays who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. It’s a chance for all of us who enjoy this industry to give back something to the people who have given us so much enjoyment.

There are two different covers for this issue, one by Matt Wagner (Grendel), and a second by J. Scott Campbell (Eve).

Next up, I discovered Days Missing (Archaia) is based on a concept by a Roddenberry executive named Trevor Roth, and tells the stories of a mysterious being known only as “The Steward” who has the ability to literally “fold” the days of time that he has allowed him to secretly remove critical days from our shared history in order that he has forever changed the course of mankind.

I’ll be honest with you, what first attracted me to this title was it’s 99¢ price tag. Yep, that’s right, the initial issue was under a buck, and hey, I just can’t pass up a deal like that. Needless to say, even a cheap price cover price won’t keep me around if the story or art blows. Needless to say, Days Missing was absolutely riveting right from get-go. Phil Hester’s script is wonderful, and truly sucked me right in from the first page, and I can’t say that about many comics I read these days.

I’m strongly urging you all to rush out and pick up this book. You’ll thank me.

This month also marks the return of Vampirella, once again from Harris Comics. This is the first issue of a four-issue mini that re-launches the character for the new millennium. I’ll be honest with you, I was never a real big fan of this character, but I will say that this re-launch looks certainly interesting, and (to be sure), I gave it a look because my good Friend Mark Mazz had a hand in the Harris version of this character during the ’90s.

While Mark didn’t have anything to do with this version, I figured that I’d give it a look and see what was up. I’m only one issue in, so I’ll have to see where it goes from here.

Another 99¢ book that I recently picked up was Mark Waid’s Irredeemable (Boom!) The story is good enough (although I am a bit lost as I’m set in the middle of an on-going story), the concept of putting a comic on the stands for a lost-leader purchase price, is still a great idea.

The story was fun and I’m considering checking out some of the other issues.

Well, now it is time for me to move on, and look at some other other stuff, now that this pile is off my desk.

Have fun kids.

This just in...

Buddy of mine called me this morning and told me that Warner Bros. Entertainment (the parent company of DC Comics) has apparently created DC Entertainment Inc., a brand new company that is being founded to fully realize the “power and value of the DC Comics brand and characters across all media and platforms.” This new company will be run by Diane Nelson. This announcement was made today by Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, and Alan Horn, President & COO, Warner Bros.

DC Entertainment, a separate division of WBEI, will be charged with strategically integrating the DC Comics business, brand and characters deeply into Warner Bros. Entertainment and all its content and distribution businesses.DC Entertainment, which will work with each of the Warner Bros. divisions, will also tap into the tremendous expertise the Studio has in building and sustaining franchises and prioritize DC properties as key titles and growth drivers across all of the Studio, including feature films, television, interactive entertainment, direct-to-consumer platforms and consumer products.The DC Comics publishing business will remain the cornerstone of DC Entertainment, releasing approximately 90 comic books through its various imprints and 30 graphic novels a month and continuing to build on its creative leadership in the comic book industry.

Yeah, I’m not sure what it all means either, but the Bloggers are already on it, comparing it to the Disney buyout of Marvel.

(Not so) Creepy

The first comics I read were newsstand comics, Harvey, Gold Key, Archie; I then grew into the world of Superheroes (DC, Marvel), but when I got to High School, I discovered Warren’s line of horror mags (Creepy, Eerie, and the rest of the Horror-verse that was Warren Comics), Along the way I was also exposed to the old EC-style comics (both from EC and the mass-market pablum that filtered into DC, Marvel, and the rest of the mainstream, newsstand books), so in spite of my admitted bent towards guys and gals wearing Spandex and punching the crap out of each other, I do know a bit about the history of horror in comics.

(Unavoidable aside, I not only interviewed Steve Bissette for four hours about his then-upcoming book Taboo (and remained friendly with him for several years afterward until we lost tough with each other) but I also interviewed Jim Warren (several years later) and still (occasionally) get a Christmas card from him (no, really!).)

Anyway, a couple of years ago Papercutz (helmed by my friend and former editor Jim Salicrup) re-launched the classic EC Comic, Tales From The Crypt. This version was re-imagined for kids (sort of an illustrated Goosebumps). Not bad, but not really horror either. Well this month, Dark Horse has relaunched Creepy. Well, in spite of the fact that I’ve written a horror story or four (the first three issues of Psychosis! for GWP, and issue #3 of Only In Whispers for Free Lunch Comics, plus am continuing my Wülf Girlz series for Atlas Unleashed) I really wasn’t interested in picking up Creepy #1, that is until Mark Mazz, my editor, publisher and friend prompted me to do so.

Well, I did, and wow, was I extremely disappointed. For whatever reason, Dark Horse (or, more specifically, New Comic Company who — I believe — packaged the material for Dark Horse) chose to not so much relaunch the title but essentially pick up with stories that could have very well been published by the title some 30 or 40 years ago.

Please note, this is so not a compliment.

Let me digress for a moment. As good and ground-breaking as those stories were all those years ago, for the most part, they were all what I term “Turnabout Revenge Fantasies”. That is to say, (and this is an oversimplification) a young boy would pull the legs off spiders, and then get trapped in the web of a giant spider. Effective stories for a 12-year-old, but not so scary for an adult read. (I say that even though to this day I’m not entirely unconvinced that when a smash insects in my house that someday soon a hoard of gigantic insects wont swarm me and kick me to death.)

Still, to return to Dark Horse’s Creepy. It just isn’t scary The stories are all cast in the precise mold of its earlier incarnation, and just don’t do it for me any more. Now, while it may be possible that these stories just might be scary to a younger generation that didn’t grow up reading these stories already, I am highly suspect. If only due to the vast expanse of Freddie Kruegers, Michale Myers, and Jason Voorhees populating the movie landscape. It could be me, but I just don’t see this stuff as scaring anyone.

I realize that this may come off as professional jealousy (because of my association with Psychosis!, even in spite of the fact that this version of Creepy (at least in it’s packaging) looks nearly identical to Psychosis!. Still, it has no teeth. This Creepy still thinks the stuff that scared me at 15 in 1970, is going to scare me (or someone else) in 2009. I think not. At least in Psychosis we tried to update the fear-mongering to relate to issues and fears of the 21st century (the schoolyard Bully, Predators that stalk our children, global warming, eminent domain, shadow conspiracies, and the like.

Our fear base has changed over the past 30 years, unfortunately the storytelling in this tome has not.

If you want to see what I mean, write to me and I’ll sell you copies of the GWP issues of Psychosis! that I still have. Or, if you are going to be at the Wizard/Big Apple show in NY this October You can look up Atlas Unleashed in Artist Ally, and check out what we are doing with the genre.

Until then. See you in the funnypapers!

On the Local Front

A month back, while at MoCCA, my good friend, collaborator, and client, Mark Mazz produced a limited edition “Script Book” for his Mark Twain story, Expressions of Bull-Frog Wisdom on the Lady Mississippi. The story was originally supposed to appear in the CAG-produced Graphic Album, Iconic, but due to creative differences (Mark wanted to be creative and the editor wanted something different), it was pulled. The good news is that the story will be re-released in a book entitled Literacy that is slated to come out from Atlas Unleashed.

My good buddy Chris Torres (who is drawing my own Springload & Renegade — also due out from Atlas Unleashed) illustrated it. Chris is a major talent, and seriously should be busier (and more well-known) than he already is. We sold the script book for a buck a pop, and it received some very nice comments.

The other very cool publication I recently acquired is the new issue of DitkoMania (#73) which is produced by Rob Imes. The issue is B&W and a buck-fifty. You can acquie your own copy by going to Rob's website and purchasing one yourself. This issue cover-features Dr. Strange, and is well worth the price.

You can also write directly to Rob at 13510 Cambridge #307, Southgate, MI 48195.

This is a must fro any serious Ditko fan.

A Blast from the (far distant) Past!

So, a couple of weeks back I attended I-Con with my friend and colleague, Mark Mazz. Our visit there was fruitful on a couple of levels (in that we got to meet with a number of our contemporaries while at the comicbook portion of the event). Plus, I got to hang with Mark, and his lovely family.

As I was leaving, Mark handed me a copy of the very first comic that Mark helped produce (As you all know, Mark was the creative Director on the three issues of Psychosis!, and issue #7 of CAG all of which contained stories of mine (see sidebar). The comic Mark gave me was Utterly Strange Stories #1. The 1991 comic features a full color Plasma Baby cover by Joseph Michael Linsner, a nine-page story, entitled Mercy Street written by David Quinn and entirely illustrated by Linsner in his classic CFD B&W style, a super vintage CFD ad and an ad for Plasma Baby with a Linsner painting!

The second story in the comic is Plasma Baby by Writer artist Mitch Waxman. Plasma Baby is Waxman’s homage to Japanese monster flicks. After it’s debut in Utterly Strange Stories it moved on to Caliber Press where it was appeared in a pair of critically acclaimed miniseries.

Both of the stories in this comic are quite entertaining, with Quinn & Listner’s tale a haunting story of confinement, loneliness, and feeling trapped, while Waxman’s story is a more lighthearted entry into the genre of giant monsters. After reading the comic, I realized that Mark (the comic’s Creative Director) really had this long history of producing high-quality independent comics, and it made me wish that I had spent a greater part of my early career self-publishing.

Fun stuff, all around. As I did a quick search across the net, I discovered that copies Utterly Strange Stories still exist and are available for sale. If you are interested in what a high-quality Indie comic looked like in the early ‘90s (with work from top-flight creators in the field), then you should look this one up and grab a copy for yourself.

CAG means networking

I belong to a networking group called The Comicbook Artists Guild (CAG). I have been a part of this organization for three, or four years. I was first invited to join the group by my good Friend Mark Mazz. Mark set up a meeting between me and co-founder and current president Keith Murphey. I have since gone on to work with both Mark and Keith to actively promote the group at conventions and to various media outlets, as well as producing three newsletters for the group which have been handed out at conventions across the country. I was also privileged to relaunch my signature series, Agent Unknown in CAG #7.

Networking is really the only way those of us struggling to get in can hope to survive. Take my pal Chris Buchner. I first “met” Chris while we were both on SpiderFan, and when I realized that he was local to me (he’s NY, I’m CT). I brought Chris over to CAG and then, once I was invited to contribute to The Official Index to the Marvel Universe, I was able to get the invitation extended over to Chris, who is now contributing as well.

When my Pal and fellow CAGer, Carl Herring needed an inker for his self-published comic, The Enforcers, I was able to hook him up with another friend, Chris Torris (who painted my re-launch of Agent Unknown).

When CAG-pal James Rodriguez, was producing a 2009 art calender with a bunch of other CAGers and the very lovely and talented Belkis, I lent him a hand in the production and editorial phase of the project. (You can still buy this calendar, it is not only spotlighted here on this blog, but if you reach out to James, he’d be very happy to sell you one of your very own.)

So, now in the same vein as all of that I want to direct you to a trio of other online pals-o-mine, first up is the CAG web comic page. It is hosted on Drunk Duck, and you will find a bunch of CAG writers and artists assembling an impressive array of online comics. Go there, bookmark the page and then go back to see what we put up there over the coming year. I promise you that it will be very cool.

Now that I’m on the subject of web comics, I want you to head over to Rusty Haller’s page and discover the very entertaining Ace & Queenie; an anthropomorphic action/adventure spy series that he has been producing for Furrlough Comics for over four years (generating over 150 pages of printed art). About 2 years ago, Rusty brought his unique creation to the web where they can be seen in a new storyline.



If his name sounds familiar, it is because he is a cartoonist with quite an impressive history in the print world. His first published work was back in the late ‘80s for a small CT-based publisher, Spotlight Comics. From there Rusty managed to score a gig at Marvel’s line of Star Comics working on such titles as Danger Mouse, Count Duckula, Heathcliff, and Alf, as well as producing some illustrations for Marvel Age. Over at DC he worked on Tiny Toons Adventures, Looney Tunes, and Animaniacks. In addition to this, he worked on various Flintstones and Harvey titles for Archie Comics.

Another site I want you to bookmark is BelkisNYC: Marketing for the Creative Soul. This is the site of Belkis’ very cool and very knowledgeable marketing blog. (Hey I told you she was not only drop dead gorgeous, but wicked intelligent as well!) Currently there are only about a dozen posts, but I’m telling you that I’m already finding it invaluable.

These folks are all good friends of mine, and I want you to treat them well.

Whups, almost forgot...



Hell’s Blood is the creation of another CAG-buddy, Hector Rodriguez. This past Saturday (yesterday), CAG held it’s second annual mixer here in CT (in my old stomping grounds of Fairfield), and we held a Yankee Swap Gift Party. I donated a copy of Comic Values 2008 (of which I’m the features editor), and in return I wound up with a Hell’s Blood T-Shirt. A very cool gift indeed, as I’m currently in talks with Hector to team up his character and my very own Wülf Girlz, as well as the possibility of me colaborating on future issues of Hells’ Blood itself.

Now how cool is that?

Portraits by Dave Ryan

I met Dave Ryan a couple of years ago, I was introduced by a mutual friend, Mark Mazz. All three of us are involved in the Comicbook Artists Guild, and well, I knew that Dave was a righteous illustrator, but I really had no clue as to how good he was until I saw the following Vid.



Dave is living in LA now, but I expect to (hope to) see him this year at the New York Comic Con.

Very cool stuff Dave. I’m totally impressed (Oh yeah, Dave is also the driving force behind The War of the Independents, where my characters — The Wülf Girlz — are slated to appear).



Trust me when I tell you that no one is cooler than Dave.

Enigma Works Comics

One of the artists I met at the recent National comicbook convention was Luke Mierisch. Luke has this great, clean style to his art. I was privileged to score a pair of comics he produced for Enigma Works. One comics — Tall Tales of Non-Fiction — was written by Dean A. Selleck; the second — Papillon Black — was written by Jason Cookingham.

Both comics are done is a very noir-like stark black and white. both show a skill that totally impressed both myself and my editor, Mark Mazz. After Mark arranged the introduction between the both of us, Luke and I spoke for a bit, and I invited him to contribute to my upcoming Agent Unknown graphic Album. I passed along to Luke the three issues of AU that Dell Barras drew for me back in the mid-‘80s.

Luke and I have chatted at length,and I’ve asked (and he’s agreed) to illustrate the new Stacy Anne Duncan story that I’ve written. I have to tell you that this excites me a great deal, as Stacy Anne was one of the original Division agents that I developed, and I have more stories of her that I not only want to tell, I want Luke to illustrate them.

Anyway, if you attend a show, and wander past Luke in Artists’ Ally. Stop at his table and pick up whatever he is selling, you’ll be seriously very happy that you did. I know that I was.