Emerald City Comic-Con

GRAVEYARD OF EMPIRES (and GROUNDED, and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN) artist Paul Azaceta and I will be at Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle THIS WEEKEND, March 4-6 2011, at Table G-25.

We’ll be showing off art from Graveyard, Paul will be sketching, and I should have copies of all my books for sale. That includes RIFT RAIDERS, my Kickstart book with Julian Totino Tedesco (pictured above). Rift Raiders sold out from Diamond, and while it will be re-solicited, if you are there this may be your only chance to to get a copy until June.

If there’s anything you’d like me to bring in particular (some single issue of GROUNDED or FEARLESS, for example), let me know. But as much as I like to sell stuff, the reason ECCC is one of my favorite cons is the fan interaction. It’s more comic-centric than most cons, and while well attended it’s still intimate enough to actually converse. I’m always happy to chat comics, please come by and say hello.

I should also mention there will be a number of my collaborators there besides Paul, including Sean Murphy (Teen Titans: Cold Case, Joe the Barbarian), Jeremy Haun (Two-Face: Year One) and Matthew Southworth (What If? Spider-Man, Stumptown). Matthew did fill-in work on Spidey which I've never gotten to thank him for.

All will be happy to sign. Too many friends to name, and overall one of the strongest talent lineups I’ve seen.

I'll be reachable and try to update my goings on via Twitter.

(Sorry - this is pretty much the same post I put up on Tumblr, but I'm not fully packed and I'm leaving for the airport soon).

GRAVEYARD OF EMPIRES

I'm pleased to officially announce my next creator-owned book, GRAVEYARD OF EMPIRES, the first issue of which is coming this June from Image Comics. It's illustrated and co-created by Paul Azaceta, artist of my first book, GROUNDED, as well as my most recent, WHAT IF? SPIDER-MAN.

I think it's both of our best work, and in many ways it feels like my career is coming full circle. Five years after GROUNDED, with a lot more work under our belt, we bring a lot more to the table. This is also a collaboration in the true sense of the word. Paul has had significant input into the story, and I'm hitting him hard with reference and trying to push the boundaries of what either of us has done on the page. Definitely a case where the whole will be better than the sum of the parts.

Here's the solicit:

Afghanistan. Marines face a never-ending onslaught of Taliban. But even hell can get worse. The dead are coming back to life in The Graveyard of Empires, and only together can both sides of today’s conflict survive tomorrow’s undead assault.

It's full color, with 32 full pages of story at the incredibly low price of $2.99. DC and Marvel titles at $2.99 will only give you 20 pages of story these days.

We're looking at "Criminal" model for this book. Basically, to publish it in volumes or seasons. This volume will be 3 issues, and offer a complete story (which will be the equivalent of at least 4 22 page issues), with a beginning, middle and end. If there's demand for it, we have plans for sequels.

This is not just another zombie book. Yes, if you like zombies, you'll get them, and you'll see them used in unique ways. But this is first and foremost a war comic. Paul and I did an incredible amount of research, and I think you'd be hard pressed to find a comic that depicts the reality of war in Afghanistan.

(It's crazy to me that at a time when we are fighting two wars there are little or no war comics -"Garth Ennis' Battlefields, set in WWII, is a notable exception - let alone contemporary ones.)

The pitch for this was "Hurt Locker" meets "Dawn of the Dead". The first issue is certainly closer to the former than the latter. And, like Dawn of the Dead, while it is a genre piece, the zombies serve as a metaphor for something called "insurgent math".

Kill an insurgent, and you are likely to create 10 more - you've pissed of his family and friends, and possibly caused collateral damage to civilians he may be hiding among.

Kill someone in an area where the dead are returning alive, and they'll come back as a zombie, biting and infecting you and your friends, creating more zombies and perpetuating a different kind of endless war.

As seriously as we took the research, this should still be a fun, action-packed book.

I will have more to say and post about this soon, both here and on my new Tumblr blog. Paul and I will also be at Emerald City Comic Con this weekend at table G-25, March 4-6, 2011, where we'll have art to show you and be happy to chat about this.

WHAT IF? SPIDER MAN (KILLED KRAVEN THE HUNTER)- OUT NOW

My Marvel Comics debut, "What If? Spider-Man" is out in stores as of this Wednesday, December 15th 2010.

It's hard to say what means more to me, achieving my lifelong dream of working with Marvel, or having my name on another book with Paul Azaceta.

While I've enjoyed writing for DC, I was a Marvel guy growing up. The theme of my Bar Mitzvah was Marvel Comics. Somewhere out there are shirts with a caricature of me in Iron Man's silver and crimson armor with the words "I had a MARVELous time at Mark's Bar Mitzvah".

That particular Iron Man suit, along with a bearded Thor and a Black and Red Captain America, also heralded my favorite Spider-Man garb - his black and white costume. To me, that's the iconic version, and it's the one he wears through most of our What If? story.

What If? Spider-Man spins out of Joe Kelly's recent GRIM HUNT storyline. In it, Spider-Man is run through a gauntlet, with many of those close to him killed by his classic foe Kraven The Hunter. Spider-Man comes close to killing him, and our story asks what would have happen if he'd taken that next step.

There's some people I should thank for this opportunity. Editor Tom Brennan, who not only picked me for this assignment but really stepped in and made this a better story. Steve Wacker, who I wrote an as yet unpublished Spider-Man story for that got me this gig. And Mark Waid, former editor-in-chief of BOOM! Studios. Mark recommended me to Marvel when I was working on Unthinkable, and helped get my foot in the door. That was no small favor - it's hard to imagine the EIC of any major publisher recommending a writer or artist to a competitor. It speaks to the kind of guy Mark Waid is - a mensch.

While it's a dream come true, so is working with Paul again. While he did the covers for UNTHINKABLE, this is the first time we've collaborated on a story since my first published work, GROUNDED, nearly five years ago. Since that time, Paul has become one of the main Spider-Man artists, and one of the top talents in the industry. There's no greater compliment to me than an artist wanting to work with me again. If you like what we're doing here, you're going to love our creator-owned book, GRAVEYARD OF EMPIRES, which should be out in 2011.

In the meantime, I hope you'll check What If? Spider-Man out. Next Wednesday, December 22nd, my last book of 2010 comes out, when I head back to DC Comics for TEEN TITANS: COLD CASE with Sean Murphy.

Big Fun with the Big Two: What If? Spider-Man and Teen Titans: Cold Case

Wow...December is shaping up to be a big month for me. Two books from the big two.

The first is one I haven't announced yet: WHAT IF? SPIDER-MAN

Picking up from Joe Kelly and Michael Lark's Amazing Spider-Man arc "Grim Hunt", it asks the question "What if Spider-Man had Killed Kraven the Hunter?".

I'm excited about it for so many reasons I don't know where to start first. How about the artist - Paul Azaceta. Paul has been kicking ass with Mark Waid on Amazing Spider-Man for the past year, so he's a natural fit. If you're not familiar with my creator owned work, Paul drew and co-created my first book, GROUNDED, and did the covers to UNTHINKABLE. This is the first book that we've done together since. (Although it won't be the last, we're working on a creator-owned project that I hope to announce soon, and I think will be BOTH of our best work to date).

If the cover doesn't look like classic Azaceta to you, it's because it's drawn by industry superstar Phil Jimenez. Very excited about that as well.

This will also be my first published work for Marvel (I did do a Web of Spider-Man story that hasn't seen print yet, but I'm still hoping will see a digital release). Saying that I'm a Marvel fanboy would be an understatement. The THEME OF MY BAR MITZVAH was Marvel Comics. I'm debating whether, next time I'm in NY, I should dig out my message board with a mock-up of me as Wolverine, or the t-shirt with my caricature posed in Iron Man's silver and crimson armor.

SPIDER-MAN? What if will be in stores December 15, 2010.

Exactly one week later, will see the release of TEEN TITANS: COLD CASE




This is a project I've mentioned before. A few years ago, my first work-for-hire assignment was to write an arc of Teen Titans for DC. The art was finished, but for reasons I'm still not clear on, it was shelved. Until now.

The artist on the book, Sean Gordon Murphy, is red hot now, due in large part to his great work on Vertigo's JOE THE BARBARIAN with Grant Morrison. Trust me when I say that his Titans art is worth the wait.

(You'll notice that the cover is NOT by Sean - it's by someone named Jay Fabok. I don't know Jay, but if the pencils are anything to go buy he's got it down).

Why is the book called "COLD CASE". Well, in part, it's because it's an untold story of the Teen Titans, like an old murder case being re-investigating.

And, as the cover suggests, it features Captain Cold. It's actually the first meeting between the Titans and The Flash's Rogues gallery, so Cold is just one of the MANY villains the Titans face. I don't want to give to much away, but the story also ties into Brad Meltzer's Identity Crisis, providing an answer to an unresolved mystery there.

If you're worried that you won't understand the book because it takes place in the Titan's past (or because you didn't read Identity Crisis, or follow the Titans or Flash etc.) - don't. DC didn't just dust this story off and publish it. I went back and did a major rewrite, with the primary aim being to make this book as accessible as any other I've written.

The original title was actually Father's Day, as one of the threads deals with (then Robin) Tim Drake, and how he deals with the loss of his father. It's an odd bit of coincidence, as I lost my father this year. The rewrite was incredibly emotional because of this. My father was a huge supporter of my work, and a real-life hero (a Federal prosecutor who went after the mob, tried espionage cases etc...he even once chased after a guy with a machete). So I like to think that this story finally seeing print is a sign of some sort.

On a more cheerful note, with the price of comics so high these days, the book is a bargain at $4.99. I know - $4.99, bargain and comic should not be in the same sentence. But it's two issues - 48 pages worth of story! - for less than five bucks. Considering most of the Big Two's comics are $3.99 each, I think it's better than buying two books for eight bucks. When you factor in that it actually tells a complete story, with a beginning, middle and an end (I know shocking in mainstream comics), that's a great deal.

That's out December 22nd 2010.

There are more projects in the works, particularly on the creator-owned side of things. And more announcements. But for now, I hope you pre-order these books from OCTOBER PREVIEWS - I'm quite proud of them book.

(I'll post in more detail later, but I'll be appearing at New York Comic-Con next week, sharing a table with FEARLESS artist PJ Holden, and signing at the Graphic.ly booth as well. And I hope to have copies of RIFT RAIDERS, although I can't guarantee that).

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.

UNTHINKABLE finally out TODAY, Wednesday May 13th...signing at Jim Hanley's Universe in NY to launch

This is going to be a very short post - I'm exhausted from jet lag, my appearance on Comic Book Club Live, and oh yeah...being detained by the Transportation and Safety Administration and interrogated about the script for Unthinkable #3.

But, Unthinkable - what I think is my best work yet (so far...some very generousadvance reviews agree)- is finally out today.

UNTHINKABLE, my new comic from BOOM! Studios, is a fictional spy thriller rooted in the real world.

After 9/11, many reacted by saying the events of that day were like something “out of a Tom Clancy novel.” Our government took that reaction seriously, and commissioned a think tank made up of thriller writers to come up with worst case terror scenarios, In doing so, we could devise ways to stop these "unthinkable" attacks before the terrorists even had a chance to plot them.

The comic tells the story of Alan Ripley, a fictional young writer who joins this real-life think when his brother is killed on 9/11. Almost a decade later, the nightmare scenarios he imagined start coming true.

I'll be at signing Unthinkable at Jim Hanley's Universe in NYC today from 6 to 8PM along with cover artist Paul Azaceta and some surprise guests. (Two-Face: Year One is also being released in trade along with Bruce Jones and Sean Murphy's Scarecrow: Year One...I'll be signing that as well). I'm sure I'll do an LA signing for issue 2.

More soon...links to articles and reviews, more about my experience with the TSA, a creator commentary of the ARG etc. In the meantime...I hope you'll check UNTHINKABLE out regardless of whether you can make it to a signing. And I'd love to know what you think.

UNTHINKABLE - a 10 - count'em 10 page preview

Boom! Studios has a lot of confidence in UNTHINKABLE, my upcoming thriller coming out in May. So much so that they released not the usual five, but a ten page preview. Why show almost half the book up front? Because we believe that the 2nd half is just that good.

Major Spoilers

Newsarama

Splash Page Previews

For those of you who don't know, Unthinkable is based on a real-life government program. After 9/11, there were many who felt like what happened was out of a Tom Clancy novel, or a Jerry Bruckheimer movie. Some people in the government took this seriously, and created a think tank made up of novelists and screenwriters. Their task was to come up with worst case terror scenarios. If we could imagine the next 9/11 before the terrorists did - maybe we could stop that.

Where I depart into the realm of fiction is with Alan Ripley, a young Tom Clancy-esque novelist who joins this Think Tank when his brother is killed in 9/11. Eight years afterwards, he finds that the nightmare terrorist scenarios he envisioned have started to come true. Now, it's up to him to stop them. The problem - just because you write about action heroes doesn't mean you can be one.

I've never been more proud of a project, creator-owned or otherwise. Much of that is due to the great work of Julian Totino Tedesco, who does the interiors you'll see on those ten pages. Paul Azaceta, my first ever collaborator on Grounded does the covers. That's the cover for Issue #2 above. Issue #1 however will be out in May.

Unthinkable has been the reason I haven't posted more - it took incredible research, and I put nearly as much into the marketing - which involved an ARG (Altered or Alternate Reality Game) - as I did the comic. I plan on posting more soon - at the very least links to the many interviews I've done, the reviews (which are not out yet, but should be coming sooner than you think), and behind the scenes stuff.

I've agreed to do a "director's commentary" for the ARG. If that goes one, I've always wanted to do one for an actual comic, being a process junkie (or just a narcissist) myself. I think this is a book that lends itself to it, because of the amount of research, ties to the real world and the ARG etc. I'd love to get some others involved - maybe Julian, marketing/gure Chip Mosher and the rest of the ARG team (Dafna Pleban and Ian Brill), Paul, series editors Mark Waid and Matt Gagnon etc. My priority is the book, but I don't want readers of this blog to think I've forgotten about it.

UNTHINKABLE - READ THE COMIC, PLAY THE GAME!

I'm proud to OFFICIALLY announce UNTHINKABLE, my latest, and I think greatest, creator-owned comic book series, coming this May from BOOM! Studios (and available for preorder NOW).

UNTHINKABLE is edgy spy thriller with roots in a controversial, real-world government initiative. Shortly after September 11, 2001, the Defense Department commissioned "think tanks" comprised of some of America's most darkly imaginitive writers. Since the 9-11 attacks seemed like something out of a Tom Clancy novel, the Pentagon asked these writers to come up with worst case terrorist scenarios. Their hope was that if our best writers could come up with these nightmare plots first, we could devise defenses before our terrorist enemies thought about, let alone planned, the next 9/11.

UNTHINKABLE tells the story of Alan Ripley, a (fictional) writer who joins this real life think tank, only to find that the devious terror attacks he imagined have started to come true. Realizing someone is using his imagination as a blueprint for terror, it's up to Ripley and his fellow Think Tank members to stop these unthinkable attacks they unwittingly planned from becoming reality.

With covers by GROUNDED artist Paul Azaceta:


And DMZ's Kristian Donaldson:

...interior art by rising star Julian Tedesco , and edited by Mark Waid (Kingdom Come) and Matt Gagnon, there's a dream team of creators helping me bring to life a story I've been researching and dying to tell for for years.

If my pitch isn't enough to convince you, than I'm hoping that THE UNTHINKABLE ARG (Altered Reality Game) will. An "ARG" is an interactive, online game that uses the real world as a platform. The UNTHINKABLE ARG, created by myself and a marketing team headed by BOOM!'s Chip Mosher, is the world's first ARG for a comic book.

Starting now, by going to http://www.wolfpackpmc.com,/ you can sign up to apply for an intelligence position in The Wolfpack, a (fictional) Private Military Contractor. Next week, those of you who are accepted into the Wolfpack's training program will be tasked to search the internet for clues that can help them apprehend the dangerous characters in the book. At the very least, the ARG is a way to get the kind of supplementary material found in books like Watchmen to readers for free. More than that, it gives you a chance to interact with UNTHINKABLE'S fictional players in a very real way. I've spent nearly as much time crafting the game as I have the comic, integrating the world of UNTHINKABLE into our own.

It's completely free to play, and there's a tangible prize for the winner(s). You can sign up for the game NOW at http://www.wolfpackpmc.com/ by clicking the "join" button.

I have had the privilege of working with many talented people on a wide variety of projects, but I can say without hesitation that both the comic and the game are the best work I've ever been involved with.

I hope you'll ask your retailer to pre-order the first issue by giving them the pre-order code of MAR094127.

Some changes before the big announcement

Hey everyone. If you've been wondering why I haven't been posting with much frequency it's because I've been spending a considerable amount of time on the project that will be officially announced on Wednesday. Not just the comic series, but the ARG (alternate reality game)/contest I've been creating to promote it. Or, to put in another way, you know you are in deep when you are spending more time creating blogs etc. for your ficitional characters than for yourself.

In the meantime, I thought I might point out some changes to the blog.

First, I've updated the links and pictures to my published works. You'll notice that both Teen Titans: Spotlight and Batman: Two-Face/Scarecrow: Year One are collected editions of both those mini-series that will be out in March and May respectively. You can order them on Amazon, although I'd prefer if you purchased them at your local comic shop. On a selfish level, it means my sales numbers will be higher. With the economy the way it is, I'd also rather you help a small business than a large one. Plus, you'll get the books a week or more earlier that way.

I've also started to link to SOME of my friends' and collaborators' blogs. If you are one or the other and would like a link, e-mail me or comment on this thread. This is by no means an exhaustive list, it's just a start.

At some point, I'd like to do longer pieces on or with people I worked with - interviews, guest blog posts - whatever they'd like.

In the meantime, I thought I'd introduce you briefly to the first batch:

Paul Azaceta is the artist and co-creator of Grounded, and has since gone on to do work such as Daredevil, Foolkiller and the upcoming Punisher Noir for Marvel, as well as Hellboy BRPD: 1946 for Dark Horse and Potter's Field for Boom! He's doing the covers for my new project and I couldn't be happier to have him aboard.

Jason Badower was the artist on my first Heroes webcomic, "Blackout", featuring Suresh. It's not only in Volume 2 of the Heroes Hardcover, it was reprinted as a 2008 San Diego Comic-Con exclusive (of which I only have one copy). He's got a fantastic, photorealistic, painterly style that he does entirely on the computer.

My friend Jen Grunwald, otherwise known as the "hottest girl in comics", is a Special Editions editor at Marvel Comics. She's very cool, even when she drops names of all the famous comic book creators she knows.

Valerie D'Orazio, aka "Occasional Superheroine", is the writer of one of my favorite comic blogs. It's often labeled as a feminist blog, which to some extent it is (she is the President of The Friends of Lulu, the premiere women's organization in comics), but that label is kind of reductive. She covers anything worth covering in comics, is incredibly prescient as far as where the industry is going and is a hell of a writer.

Salgood Sam is the artist who illustrated/co-created my contribution to Tori Amos' Comic Book Tattoo collection, "Upside Down", a graphic adaptation of the song of the same name. He does a great deal of really inspired creator owned work as well.

Finally (for today), if you don't know who Mark Waid is, you probably haven't read comics in the past twenty years. Generally, skipping the last 20 years of comics might not be the worst thing in the world, but during some of the dark times in the 90s Mark helped re-invent heroic fiction, whether it was his legendary Flash Run, the groundbreak Kingdom Come, or...the list is long, but chances are if you haven't read anything by him, you've read something that wouldn't exist without him. He's now the editor-in-chief at BOOM! Studios, the publisher of my next work. He's the best editor I've worked with bar none, and he's also served as a mentor to me.

I've had the privilege of working with other great artist, writers, creators etc. who I hope to introduce you to soon. Chances are if you like my work, you'll probably like the worked of those who I linked to.

In about 6 hours or so I'll be headed to NY for, among other things, The New York Comic Con. I'm going to be sharing a table with artist Paul Azaceta (GROUNDED, FOOLKILLER, BPRD: 1946) in Artist's Alley, Table L7. Hopefully, FEARLESS artist PJ Holden and co-writer Dave Roth will be hanging around the table as well.

As always, I'm happy to talk to anyone, sign anything, and I'll be selling my Image Books. If you want my DC works signed, you're probably going to have to bring your own copies of TWO-FACE: YEAR ONE, CYBORG and SUPERGIRL #16. And if you happen to have San Diego's limited edition HEROES comic from last year, you can be the first to have me sign a copy.\\ If I'm not at my table, I'm likely just taking a walking around break, or doing a signing for Comic Book Tattoo (the hugely successful Tori Amos anthology I contributed a short story for).

But the real treat will be getting a sketch from Paul Azaceta, who does kickass - well, everything, but particularly Daredevil. And you'll never see him more excited if you ask him to draw Darkhawk.

Looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones.

See Paul Azaceta and I in New York this Tuesday (Oct. 7th) at 8PM in person at Comic Book Club: Live!

Along with The Timony Brothers (creator of the great Zuda webcomic "Night Owls"), Grounded artist Paul Azaceta and I are the guests at this week's COMIC BOOK CLUB: LIVE! in Manhattan.

The Comic Book Club, sponsored by Midtown Comics (my old LCS), features comedians talking to comics professionals about, well, comics. They've had everyone from Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada to cast members of SNL and The Daily Show...to well, me.

Sure, there will be a podcast of it at some point, but wouldn't it be fun to see us, meet us, hang out aftewards? I'm known to be a bit politically incorrect (okay, really, really offensive) at these types of things (ex: my appearance on Jonesy's Jukebox)

The show takes place at :
The Peoples Improv Theater

154 West 29th Street, 2nd Floor

(Between. 6th and 7th Aves.)
www.popcultureshock.com/cbclub

It's Tuesday at Oct. 6th at 8PM.