UNTHINKABLE #2 out THIS WEEK, West Coast Release Party @Meltdown in LA, Collector's Paradise signing in Winnetka, CA

It's a big week for UNTHINKABLE. First off, the second issue is in stores this Wednesday, June 10th. While I'm glad that the reception to Issue One was so positive, the first issue was mostly set-up for the action that kicks off in Issue 2 and doesn't let up. Our hero, Alan Ripley, has already witnessed some of the many terror scenarios he imagined for the (real-life) government Think Tank he joined after 9/11 come true.

Now, it's up to him to stop the rest from coming to fruition. His problem. He's a writer, not an action hero. We're going to finally start to see the comic and tragic consequences of the gap between who Alan is and who he thinks he is play out.

Speaking of writers with delusions of grandeur, (despite my run-ins with the TSA, I'm no Jason Bourne), I'm having a "West Coast Release Party" for the book at Meltdown comics this Wednesday, June 10th, from 7PM on. It should be fun, if for no other reason than there will be free beer and vodka.



If you can't make it, or just can't get enough of me, I'll be signing Unthinkable this Saturday, June 13th, from 12-3PM at Collector's Paradise just off the 101. I'll be playing second fiddle to the extremely talented Marc Guggenheim (writer of Spider-Man, TV's Eli Stone and the upcoming Green Lantern film). He'll be signing his new book, Resurrection.



More info to come...

UNTHINKABLE #1...the reviews are in

...and they are overwhelmingly positive. Like best reviews of my career positive. I'm thinking I should quit while I'm ahead positive. But don't just take my word for it.

edit: this is my second attempt at posting these, hopefully the font will be readable

ASSOCIATED CONTENT

"Sable has created a dark and chilling tale that is both comic book whimsy and real-world commentary... Grade: A" - Associated Content

THE BUY PILE (CBR)

"A thought-provoking comic book that posits big ideas and bigger
conspiracies, with a relatable lead with some real character
development."

NEWSARAMA:

"...a great book..." - Newsarama

COMIC PANTS:

"It's not everyday you can call a comic book a truly chilling experience, but Unthinkable is about as close as they come... I can't wait to see what happens next."

COMICS BULLETIN:

"Writer Mark Sable sets up a great plot that I can't wait to keep following, with a main character and supporting cast that are quirky enough to seem real and interesting. "

HYPERGEEK:

"... Unthinkable #1 is a great start to what will hopefully be a great series. Both writer and artist have given us quality here and the first chapter of an intriguing story. If you're looking for an extra title to pick up, this is one with a promising start."

"I have read a pre-release copy of Unthinkable #1 and I was
incredibly impressed with this opening issue. Unthinkable is a tense,
original, intriguing, and thrilling political drama which really
reflects the times of paranoia and mistrust that we currently live
in." - HYPERGEEK

THE PULLBOX.COM

"This is a great beginning...Grade: A-"

COMICVINE:

"4.5 out of 5. ...a refreshing change ... I wouldn't mind seeing more comics like this..." - Comic Vine

MONDO MAGAZINE

"4out of 5"

BROKEN FRONTIER:

"Do you dare to think the unthinkable?" - BROKEN FRONTIER

DON MACPHERSON, EYE ON COMICS

"8 out of 10"

FOURTH WALL:

"Another Hit For Boom Studios"

FANDOMANIA:

"Obviously, the use of real life events helps set that feeling up, but the way Sable handles the material plants the "Holy macaroni, this could totally be happening right now" seeds in your grey matter. I feel Unthinkable will be a shining example of why "smaller" publishers should be getting more recognition and press than they are." - Fandomania

Gregor's Comic Book Review:

"WOW what a great idea, Predicting global catastrophe es, by using a
genius fiction writer! HAH!The Writing was clever, the concept is
clever, This book is FRESH." -- Gregor's Comic Book Review

GOOD COMICS:

"...is pretty keen... The book looks quite nice - Tedesco does a good
job with the many characters, and has a flair for action... Sable
does a good job setting up the concept..."

CBR

"... entertaining..." - CBR

"Unthinkable" #1 does what a first issue should: it makes you want to
see what happens next."

IO9

"... for anyone who loves a good conspiracy..."

And yes, they even like me in France (COMIC BOX):

"...quite a thriller..."

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.

Top Ten Reasons to Buy Teen Titans Spotlight: Cyborg - TODAY

The Top 10 reasons to buy my Teen Titans Spotlight: Cyborg trade TODAY:

10.He’s black. You’re not. Racist? Do the math.

9. Find out what’s underneath those steel underpants.

8. This Cyborg not in a wheelchair.

7. tCyborg trade: Man vs. Machine theme not explored enough Battlestar Galactica

6. You don’t need to read Final Crisis to understand it.

5. Surprise crossover with Marvel – he rapes Machine Man Iron Sheik style.

4. @Shaq promises to follow up his Steel performance when movie made.

3. Real reason for Vic's cybernetics – hit with bottle at Comicon

2. Cyborg trade: Sonic disruptor replaced by Sybian.

1. Cyborg trade: Vic finally cured…of being black!

All meant in jest...hope you'll pick it up if you weren't able to pick up any or all of the single issues.

Newsarama, CBR and Comics on Comics on Unthinkable; and On Decompression

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Particularly now, with the announcement of Unthinkable, I should be posting here like it was Twitter (which, incidentally - I'm on under "marksable"...that's been quite a drain on my time). But I've not only been writing Unthinkable and writing/managing the ARG (Alternate Reality Game), but doing everything I can to promote Unthinkable. From interviews to podcasts to cold-calling retailers.

Speaking of interviews, You can see Mark Waid interview me at Newsarama and read a great interview with Jeffrey Renaud at CBR. Finally...I did an audio podcast with the funny folks at Comics on Comics. I say audio because they also do video podcasts, one of which I was lucky enough to do last year.

The Newsarama piece features the 1st five pages of Unthinkable #1 (of 5). To keep to our exclusive arrangement, and take up the entire blog, I'm just going to show you Page 2:





Why not Page 1? Well, it's a splash, and you've seen those before. But the first 3 pages - 2 and 3 especially - are part of a really amazing opening sequence. I basically asked (Unthinkable artist) Julian Tedesco to cram pages worth of material into a variation of the nine-panel grid. He was able to do so without sacrificing detail. It's probably the single hardest thing I've ever asked an artist to do and he pulled it off effortlessly.

One thing I haven't talked about in the interviews is that Unthinkable is a really dense book. Not dense in the "inpenentrable" sense of the word, just dense in that, I wanted to tell a lot of story in 22 pages. For better or for worse, we're living in an age of decompression. But this is an epic, even if it's told in 5 issues, and I want it to feel that way.

Quite frankly, I don't believe the majority of comics right now are giving you the bang for the buck that other media are. Most comics don't tell a complete story...so you wind up paying $3.99 for what would be an act of a 4-act TV episode...when you can get an entire TV episode for $1.99 off itunes.

At the same time...decompression happened for a reason. While the comics of 2o or more years ago told a complete story...much of it was filled with redundant exposition.

In the past, I've written my creator owned books at closer to 32 pages than 22 pages, and I've done so at great expense to myself - both in terms of paying my collaborators and giving up ad space.

I'd think to think I've found an artist who can help me deliver the kind of density of great books from The Dark Knight Returns to The Wintermen, without heavy handed exposition. Ultimately, that means more story for you.

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.