Wednesday, April 14, 2010

What I'm Working On


It may seem like my productivity has been down, but that couldn't be further from the truth. While nothing has hit the stands since the Unthinkable trade (available in comic shops now), I have been and continue to be writing for both comics and other mediums.

I've got three creator owned comics projects that I'm really excited about, but can't announce yet. A big reason for this is that they are all with artists I've worked with before. It's a huge compliment to me whenever artists of this caliber want to work with me again. More importantly, these are artists that certainly don't need to be doing creator owned work, and it says a lot about their passion for the projects that they are willing to slum with me.

Two are in pitch form, and one is definite, but there is art for all three.

The first is a project with Unthinkable's Julian Totino Tedesco. That's definitely coming out, hopefully in time for San Diego. I can't say what it is, but I can say that it's very different from Unthinkable in tone (I'd say it's closer to Grounded). While it still has the same detail and dynamism that Julian's past work has, it's a real testament to his versatility.

Don't believe me? Check out the image above. That's a double page spread.

I can't announce the publisher yet, because, well, it's a new publisher that hasn't even announced its existence yet. But they've got really great creators, editors and executives on board, and I'm proud that our book will be one of the debut books.

I'm afraid to jinx the other two projects by getting into specifics, despite the strong interest we've been getting from publishers. But I will say the artists are Paul Azaceta (Grounded, the covers to Unthinkable) and Salgood Sam (maybe best known for Sea of Red with Rick Remender, who drew and lettered our contribution to the Comic Book Tattoo anthology).

Paul and I have been trying to work together since Grounded, which as scary as it sounds, first came out almost five years ago. Grounded was a breakthrough book for Paul, and he's now one of the regular artists on Amazing Spider-Man. With that project, it's a question of not only finding the right publisher, but finding a gap in Paul's incredibly busy schedule. But trust me when I say that his sketches alone are worth the wait.

There's actually 8 pages of Salgood's art in the can. As with our Comic Book Tattoo story, he did everything himself - not just the pencils and inks, but colors and hand-lettering. Salgood is one of the most collaborative artists I've ever worked with, with significant story input as well. For a hint as to what he's doing check out his Dream Life webcomic/blog here.

The genres are pretty diverse from military/horror to time travel to historical fiction. We're looking at one as a possible web comic, which is a medium I've been dying to work in again since my experience with the Heroes graphic novel.

I've got other creator owned comic pitches in the works, but those are the farthest along.

I also wrote a story for Marvel with one of their most popular characters which was a dream come true. I really hate being vague, but if and when it comes out is up to Marvel to announce (and, to be honest, a bit up in the air). I hope it does, but I had a lot of DC work that never hit the stands (two issues of Teen Titans by Sean Gordon Murphy comes to mind), and I'm hoping this is just the start of things between myself and the house of ideas.

I'm very seriously considering offers for film and interactive writing work. Again, I hate being vague, but I'm trying to walk the line of letting those who care know that I'm working, without revealing information my partners want confidential.

It may seem like my productivity has been down, but that couldn't be further from the truth. While nothing has hit the stands since the Unthinkable trade (available in comic shops now), I have been and continue to be writing for both comics and other mediums.

I've got three creator owned comics projects that I'm really excited about, but can't announce yet. A big reason for this is that they are all with artists I've worked with before. It's a huge compliment to me whenever artists of this caliber want to work with me again. More importantly, these are artists that certainly don't need to be doing creator owned work, and it says a lot about their passion for the projects that they are willing to slum with me.

Two are in pitch form, and one is definite, but there is art for all three.

The first is a project with Unthinkable's Julian Totino Tedesco. That's definitely coming out, hopefully in time for San Diego. I can't say what it is, but I can say that it's very different from Unthinkable in tone (I'd say it's closer to Grounded). While it still has the same detail and dynamism that Julian's past work has, it's a real testament to his versatility.

I can't announce the publisher yet, because, well, it's a new publisher that hasn't even announced its existence yet. But they've got really great creators, editors and executives on board, and I'm proud that our book will be one of the debut books.

I'm afraid to jinx the other two projects by getting into specifics, despite the strong interest we've been getting from publishers. But I will say the artists art Paul Azaceta (Grounded, the covers to Unthinkable) and Salgood Sam (maybe best known for Sea of Red with Rick Remender, who drew and lettered our contribution to the Comic Book Tattoo anthology).

Paul and I have been trying to work together since Grounded, which as scary as it sounds, first came out almost five years ago. Grounded was a breakthrough book for Paul, and he's now one of the regular artists on Amazing Spider-Man. With that project, it's a question of not only finding the right publisher, but finding a gap in Paul's incredibly busy schedule. But trust me when I say that his sketches alone are worth the wait.

There's actually 8 pages of Salgood's art in the can. As with our Comic Book Tattoo story, he did everything himself - not just the pencils and inks, but colors and hand-lettering. Salgood is one of the most collaborative artists I've ever worked with, with significant story input as well. For a hint as to what he's doing check out his Dream Life webcomic/blog here.

The genres are pretty diverse from military/horror to time travel to historical fiction. We're looking at one as a possible web comic, which is a medium I've been dying to work in again since my experience with the Heroes graphic novel.

I've got other creator owned comic pitches in the works, but those are the farthest along.

I also wrote a story for Marvel with one of their most popular characters which was a dream come true. I really hate being vague, but if and when it comes out is up to Marvel to announce (and, to be honest, a bit up in the air). I hope it does, but I had a lot of DC work that never hit the stands (two issues of Teen Titans by Sean Gordon Murphy comes to mind), and I'm hoping this is just the start of things between myself and the house of ideas.

I'm very seriously considering offers for film and interactive writing work. Again, I hate being vague, but I'm trying to walk the line of letting those who care know that I'm working, without revealing information my partners want confidential.

More details (and art!) coming soon.