Long Beach Comic Con and Upcoming Project News

As I write this, I'm preparing for two special events at Long Beach Comic-Con, which I'll be attending today, Saturday October 3oth. I'm conducting a workshop called "Writing for Comics, TV and Film" from 12-12:45pm - in Seaside Room 301 and the signing is 2:30-4pm at a location TBD (I'll update as soon as I know).

The bad news is that I won't be signing Rift Raiders. It was supposed to be out already, and I was supposed to be signing copies for the first time today. Evidently, there is some kind of problem with the printer. It's a shame because Rift Raiders has been done since before San Diego. Julian is an extremely fast artist and any delay should be no reflection on him (nor on Kickstart, for that matter).

Like I said, though, I'll be happy to sign anything else. But I'm mostly excited about the workshop I'm having.

Aside from writing, my other "job" is teaching screenwriting for The Writers Boot Camp. It's an acclaimed writing program based out of Santa Monica and New York, and I teach writers from literally all over the world online. I've had a great track record, with my writers winning contests, fellowships and getting hired to adapt bestselling novels for the screen.

The workshop at LBCC will be my way of passing on some of my teaching experience as well as my years of experience writing professionally. It's a short class, but I plan to really delve into substantive storytelling material, along with the usual "how to break in" stuff. I will try and drop as many behind the scenes stories into the mix as possible, the common theme of which I imagine will be "do as I say, not as I do".

As for where I am with my writing now, I'm doing quite a bit more than awaiting the release of Rift Raiders. December will see the release of What If? Spider-Man from Marvel, and Teen Titans: Cold Case from DC. Paul Azaceta is drawing Spidey, and the pages so far look PHENOMENAL. If you've been loving what he's been doing with Mark Waid on The Amazing Spider-Man as I have, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Even better news is that as soon as Paul is finished with What If?, he'll be ready to start our creator owned project, GRAVEYARD OF EMPIRES. If I say Zombies vs. Marines vs. Taliban, will that whet your appetite. I promise, it's like no zombie book you've ever read, and hopefully one of the stronger war books that you will. GRAVEYARD finally has a publisher, which I hope to announce soon.

I'm also working on my second book for Kickstart. It's called DECOY, and it's a mix of sci-fi and espionage. If you dug UNTHINKABLE or Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD, it should be right up your alley. Hopefully there will be an artist announcement soon. The names in consideration have me excited already.

Finally, a webcomics I've been working on for years, DRACULA: SON OF THE DRAGON, will be drawn by my Tori Amos Comic Book Tattoo collaborator Salgood Sam and should see the light of day soon.

I'll have art to show from RIFT RAIDERS, GRAVEYARD and DRACULA for anyone who shows up at Long Beach today.

Forgive Me Internet, For I have Sinned

It has been...well, far too long since my last blog post. In my defense, I've been hard at work on Unthinkable and I've probably "tweeted" over a thousand times. I'm sure if you multiply 240 characters by 1,500 that's enough for a quite a few blog entries.

When last I posted, Unthinkable #3 had just come out in time for Comic-Con. As I write this, all five issues are out, and I'm proofreading the trade paperback, which should be out in the next month or two.

Like most writers, I don't particularly like re-reading my own work. It's a bit easier with comics than with prose, because I get to appreciate how the artist, colorist and letterer brought my work to life. But it's impossible for me to look at old work without thinking of the myriad ways I could have made it better.

Nevertheless, I'm tremendously proud of Unthinkable. I've said before I think it's the best writing I've ever done. I suppose I should be more specific. For a long time, I've struggled with the dilemma of writing something personal that is still something other people want to read. Unthinkable is probably my highest concept, but the execution is very personal.

The protagonist, Alan Ripley, is as close to me as any comics character I've written. He's not only a writer, he's a writer that feels he should be, well, more of a do-er. Particularly when it comes to doing something for his country.

Unthinkable is filled with issues of national security, military foreign policy, my passions. I through just about every terrorist scenario into this series as possible. That may have been a mistake - although I'm very thankful that Boom! gave me 5 issues to tell my story instead of the usual 4 - this is a story I would have preferred to tell in a longer format.

Still, the density of the issues is something that was personal to me as well. My favorite comics - my good friend Brett Lewis' The Winter Men for example 0 are works that don't feel decompressed. They give you your money's worth, and can't be finished before you flush the toilet in a quick trip to the bathroom.

But the most personal thing about Unthinkable may not evident in the work itself. Instead, it's the long journey that brought it from my head to the printed page. And the even longer journey that took me from that of an aspiring writer adapting my fifth spec screenplay (Grounded) into my first comic, to where I am in my comics career today.

I hope to write about that journey a bit more on here soon, hopefully before the Unthinkable trade comes out. I still believe that I can make this blog something that gives interested readers of my work some added value, rather than just spilling my thoughts and promoting my work.

But right now, that story will have to wait. I'm lucky enough to have multiple upcoming projects that demand my attention. I can't announce them yet, but I hope to bring to them the same mix of character driven high concept with a personal touch that I did with Unthinkable. If nothing else, Unthinkable has set a very high bar for my future work.

My favorite interview so far

Although I'm not promoting anything (yet), my good friend Mike Le (pictured above) conducted what I think is the best interview I've ever done. Not just because he asked really insightful questions about the comics medium and my writing process. But also because he somehow got me to talk about my embarassing Bar Mitzvah memories, the best strip clubs in LA, and why going to to Tijuana during the San Diego Comic Con would be a bad, bad idea for me.

In addition to being a friend, and the best wingman in LA, he is VP of HQ Entertainment (Tyrese's production company), an accomplished screenwriter, and the creator of the must-read web comic "Don't Forget to Validate Your Parking". It's about the trial and travails of being an assistant in Hollywood, but you don't need to be an industry insider to appreciate it's absurd humor.

Doing interviews with my many talented friends and collaborators has been something I've been thinking of doing here when it's a slow news day/week/month for me. What do you guys think?