Times-Picayune spotlights New Orleans by Gaslight

The Times-Picayune has a piece on their site that spotlights New Orleans by Gaslight, the steampunk anthology that includes my short voudou steampunk tale, "You Gotta Give Good."  I am very happy to be a part of this anthology, which has steampunk prose and poetry revolving around the city of New Orleans.  It's been getting some good reviews and is available on Amazon.

To read the Times-Picayune piece click the link.

Thanks,
chris

Baltimore in the rear view - being the 2nd part

My summation of the recently completed Baltimore Comic-con, where I, along with Dan & Matt, exhibited for the first time.  Sales weren't as brisk as we would have liked, but does that mean it was an unsuccessful convention?  Click the link and find out.  [spoiler: it was a good show, as a fan and aspiring writer]

LINK

-chris

Baltimore in the rear view - being the 1st part

Over at In the Mouth of Dorkness, I offer a personal retrospective on the recent Baltimore Comic-con.  In this first part, I write about how it was, as a fan, for me to return to the Baltimore show after ten years.  Spoiler:  it was a pretty good show.

Look for part 2 soon.

-chris

Finally, a John Wayne "4-pack" I can get behind

I grew up during the advent of WTBS - the Superstation!  They showed a lot of classic films, and among those classics was a strong helping of John Wayne films.  These were movies my father and I would watch together.  As a result, I became a devoted fan of the Duke, even enrolling in the John Wayne collection of VHS tapes.

Then things shifted, and VHS tapes fell out of favor with DVDs taking precedence.  I became a father - an adult, one would hope - and fiscal priorities shifted (mortgage, children's clothing, comic books) so that my DVD collection is spare (I prefer curated, but it's all semantics).  I've added a couple of John Wayne films I found cheap - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Red River - and I would check out those 4-packs always offered at Target or W**-***t.  But those always included a lesser war film or The Wake of the Red Witch or some of the oaters Wayne did before breaking through to stardom.  So I never bought one.

Until I saw this one a few weeks back.

The Sons of Katie Elder - the first John Wayne film to become my favorite.  I loved this movie, the comedy with the youngest brothers, Dean Martin's charm, and the introduction of Wayne in the opening of the film, along with the standard shoot 'em up.

El Dorado - Wayne and Mitchum together?  I'm in.  I've seen this a number of times, though it has been years (decades, most likely) since I last watched it.  I can't remember much of the plot; I just know I enjoyed it.

The Shootist - an aging gunfighter (John Wayne) comes to town to get a second opinion from a doctor he trusts (Jimmy Stewart) to confirm that he has "a cancer" that will kill him in a painful manner.  So, Wayne's character decides to go out in a hail of gunfire rather than quietly.  With Lauren Bacall, Richard Boone, and Ron Howard.  This was a fitting end to Wayne's career.

The Searchers - regarded as Wayne's best film, with revered director John Ford, and hailed as his best performance, this is a revenge tale that shows Wayne in a darker light, one that was never explored by the star in any of his other films, that I can recall.  Everything that's been said about this film is spot on.  It's a classic that transcends the genre and should be seen by any fan of film, let alone westerns.

-chris

"Big Man," by Gary Fitzgerald & myself, now available!

The short story I wrote for Red Stylo's Frankenstein anthology is now available digitally.  With art, colors, and lettering by Gary Fitzgerald, this is a story I'm really proud of.  Check it out here.

Thanks,

chris

Baltimore Comic-Con here we come

Dan and I are on the road to Baltimore.  Hope to see you there.

chris

Baltimore Comic-Con Preparation - The Final Part

Over at In the Mouth of Dorkness, I finally wrap up my short series on preparation for exhibiting at Baltimore Comic-Con this weekend.  It can be found HERE.

I hope the four of you who read it gained some valuable insights from them.  Thanks to Matt & Brad for allowing me to play in their "dork field," and we'll hopefully be posting about the show over the weekend.

take care,
chris

Dustin Harbin - thoughts on exhibiting at conventions

Dustin Harbin is a funny guy who knows his way around comic books.  He used to work at Heroes Aren't Hard to Find and was integral in the preparation of Heroes Con while there - a show I need to attend at some point.  He's also a great cartoonist whose Diary Comics have been published by Koyama Press.  And the man loves Frank Herbert's DUNE and did an online book discussion a few years back, which I participated in - that was a blast.

So, he knows his stuff.  And, with Baltimore Comic-con looming on my horizon, I thought it would be wise to share some of his thoughts on exhibiting at conventions, creating your own mini-comics (including thoughts on pricing).  Here are a couple of links:

First, a blog post from Harbin after his time exhibiting at last year's Small Press Expo.  I'm stealing his "take a picture of my table set up" for our time at Baltimore this weekend.  It's a great idea (and can be found toward the end of his piece)

Second, here's an interview he did with Jim Rugg & Jason Lexx for their "Tell Me Something I Don't Know" podcast.  In this, Harbin gets into the nuts and bolts of creating mini-comics, including some pretty specific thoughts on pricing, which make complete sense but were things I was ignoring in my earlier times at conventions.

Definitely check these out, even if you aren't someone creating his or her own comics and exhibiting at conventions.  It's still a fascinating read and discussion, respectively.

chris

Baltimore Comic-con -- We're bringing some books to the show!

Dan and I, along with "Mouth Dork" hosts Matt & Brad, will be at Baltimore Comic-con this weekend, and we're bringing some books.  Here's a quick rundown:

-  Mainelining is the over-arching title for my series of chapbooks that include one short comic story and one short prose story written by me (with the exception of volumes 2&3, which encompasses my 20,000 word novella, "In Search Of").  Between 24 and 28 pages, these are stories that have been published in Warrior27 as well as through other publishers like Dark Recesses Press, Black Tome Books, Ape Entertainment, and Top Shelf Publications.  

- Warrior27 - the comics/prose anthology that Dan and I started in 2005.  We'll have three issues there, with comic and prose stories as well as interviews with key comic people such as Chris Staros and Gary Groth. With more pages than your typical Marvel/DC book, at 3 bucks each, they're a steal.  [and Indie Comics Horror #1 is 48 pages of horror comic stories set in space, ancient Rome, and all points in between, including my story, "Minister to the Undead," with art by Dan Lauer]

-  Reading Watchmen - my 87,000-word examination of Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons's seminal graphic novel, in 3 handy volumes.  If you love Watchmen, or are just curious about what "all the fuss" is about, give these a try. And if you want a taste of what this entails, check out our sister site.

-  New Orleans by Gaslight is the steampunk anthology in which I placed my story "You Gotta Give Good."  You'll find many more great stories and poems set in a steampunk-era New Orleans inside, as well.  

-  Warrior27: the Collection.  256 pages of all the best bits from our original issues, along with new and never-before-seen stuff, including interviews with Bryan Talbot and Joe Quesada (only a year into his tenure as EIC of Marvel) and teases of stories we're working on.  You can get the physical copy or the digital, in both cbz and pdf form.

Hope to see you there.

chris

Baltimore Comic-Con preparation - the second part

Over at In the Mouth of Dorkness, I do a very brief overview on:

-  getting artists to draw your stories
-  learning to letter your own stories
-  formatting your books, especially if you include prose, like me
-  some artistic advice regarding covers
-  brief thoughts on branding yourself

And a bunch of other stuff.  It's pretty bare bones, as these topics could take up thousands of words, if you wanted to get into the real nitty-gritty of it all.  but there are links to places that will help expand your knowledge on the topics at hand, and it gives you a good jumping off point to get your own comics, and comics writing portfolio (read:  printed copies of your stories, drawn and lettered, NOT just the scripts).

You can check it out HERE.  And, again, take a while to browse the site.  Matt & Brad are doing some great stuff at the "Mouth," and if you like all things geek and sundry, you'll enjoy the site.

Thanks,
chris