Busy

So,

Haven't been able to update here as often as I'd like. The end of the month, Dan and I will be in Reading, PA for the Comic Geek Speak Super Show. Tim Truman, Sean Murphy, Tony Moore, and others will be in attendance. And it's such a nice, intimate show that the chance to get face time with these creators is easy.

We will have the collection there - regular $24.95 for 254 pages, Super Show Special: $20 - along with individual issues, discounted as well. And I've been working on a line of chapbooks collecting my comic and prose stories, some of which have been published in W27 with new, unpublished stories. Most of these will be between 28 and 40 pages, 8.5" x 5.5" (1/2 Letter size), with cardstock covers, each for between $1.00 and $2.00 (I haven't finished up the formatting, so I don't know my final cost yet, but I'll share that information when I have it).

Here are a couple of those covers:



I'm using the same basic imagery for each chapbook - with a variety of cover and text colors to differentiate the volumes - as a branding device. This image is also on my business cards and my avatar for those few bulletin boards I frequent. I'll also be offering these here for sale once I've got them finished up.

AND, I have begun guest-blogging at In the Mouth of Dorkness, initially offering up a series on whether we should follow the creator or the character when making comic buying choices. I'm not sure how long this will go, but each installment should go up on Mondays - the first one is here and the newest one should be up sometime today - and after that, I have a number of ideas I'm going to examine for friends Brad & Matt (purveyors of the "Dorkness" blog).

I'm pretty excited about this. It's been fun so far. And I'll be re-running those pieces here, roughly a month after initial publication. Check it out here or there, and let me know what you think on the subject.

Now, back to formatting some chapbooks and finishing up those covers.

thanks,
chris

Warrior27: the Collection for sale @ IndyPlanet

Our 254-page collection of Warrior27 is now available for purchase from Indy Planet, the online store for Ka-Blam, the print-on-demand company we use to print our books. At $24.95, that's less than a dime a page. The book collects almost all of the work found in the previous individual issues, plus a whole bunch of new comics, prose, and interviews. And, for those that might have the original black and white issues, we have newly colored many of those initial comic stories. Anyway, here's the official description, plus interior pages to pique your interest.

Manga Sized Trade Paperback
Full Color
Page Count: 254


A Priest who can see what isn't there. A cowboy riding off into the sun for one final job. A man who discovers you can't go home again. And how far will one man go to retrieve the daughter he lost? All of this and more can be found in this first collection of Warrior27, the comics & prose anthology. Featuring artists from Argentina, the Philippines, British Columbia and all points in between, including early work from Eagle-award nominee Azim Akberali, there's something for everyone inside. Along with favorites from the original issues, new stories and features can be found in this collection, including works initially published by Arcana Press, Dark Recesses Press, and Ape Entertainment, plus a previously unpublished interview with Joe Quesada done in early 2001 - a year into his tenure as Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics.

"The Strongest anthology title I've yet come across." -Indy Comic Review

Written and Illustrated by Dan Fleming, Chris Beckett, Dan Lauer, Adrian Bago Gonzalez, Venessa Beckman, Geoff Mosse, Sergio Martinez, SR Ayers, Nadja Smith, Coleen Allen, Jason Copland, Osmarco Valladao, Josh Aitken, Nicolas Colacitti, Daniel Brigs, Christopher Hanchey, Azim Akberali, SA McClung, Joe Howe, Travis Dandro, Matt Constantine, Paul Petzrick, Kevin Sutton, Roy Anthony Amado, Branko Jovanovic, Shane Leonard, Andy Lee


PURCHASE HERE

And some art:

Small Press Expo this weekend

Dan and I will be heading to Bethesda, Maryland this weekend for the Small Press Expo. We'll have the new collection of Warrior27 there - 254 pages, digest sized, color and b/w, with much of what we published in our original issues and some new stuff, including our recent professional work and unpublished interviews with the likes of Bryan Talbot and Joe Quesada. We will be near the back of the hall, up past the Fantagraphics section:

Also, the collection is available from Indy Planet. It's $24.99, and with the prose and the comics, this is a great deal for a trade that will take a lot longer to read than the latest decompressed comic collection from "some others." Hope to see you in Maryland.

thanks,

chris

W27 preview: an interview with Joe Quesada

One of the coolest things included in the collection, which debuts in a week at SPX, is one of the earliest pieces I wrote for our prospective publishing venture. Back in 2001, Dan and I and a bunch of other friends first started talking about creating our comics/prose anthology. I don’t remember the title at that time – it could have been Warrior27, though I do remember the title Mousetrap thrown around as well but can’t remember the significance of that one - but that doesn’t matter. 2001 was the first time we seriously discussed self-publishing.

The reasons why that initial attempt did not get off the ground are many, but much of it was a result of some being unable to hit their deadlines and others of us shirking the publication side of thing, leaving that to the one of us with publishing experience. None of us stepped up when we should have and plans languished for four more years.

But, some work did get done for that first issue even if it did not get published. With Joe Quesada only a year into his tenure as Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics and the excitement still revolving around this change, I thought it would be interesting to interview him for the book. I emailed him cold and, to my surprise, Mr. Quesada was willing to answer my questions and more than gracious in taking the time to type up answers for a dozen and a half questions. Really, I cannot thank him enough for taking the time to indulge me (someone he did not know) for a publication he’d never heard of (and which never got published).

It was fun to look back on this and prepare it for publication in our new collection (I had to re-type the whole thing as I only had a hard copy) Below is a short quote from the greater interview – almost 3000 words worth – just to whet your appetite. And don’t forget, if you’re in the Bethesda, Maryland area next weekend (September 11 & 12) come check out the show and make a point to stop by the On the Fly booth, even if it’s just to talk comics.

“What Marvel method does is it cures a lot of stagnant
talkie scenes that non-visual writers are prone to writing. This is what I’ve discovered in my days editing here at Marvel. If you have a writer with a great knack for dialogue, this particular writer may write the most amazing scene between two characters as they walk down the street. This can go on for five pages and the writer, even the editor, may not suspect how bland the action is because they are so overwhelmed by the naturalness of the conversation. This works well in novels, but in visual mediums it usually puts the audience to sleep."

Thanks,
chris

W27: more preview art

Here's a preview page of art we felt just shouldn't be tampered with. Some Cthulhu goodness in inky black (with a splash of white to provide some contrast).

Word by Dan Fleming. Art from Geoff Mosse.

Enjoy,

chris

Writing - it's what we do

Like anyone working in a creative field – or, as in our case, aspiring to such an objective – Dan and I want to see our work published, want to share our work with others, and hope that what we have written elicits an emotional response (hopefully in a positive light) in our audience. It’s a bit of an ego thing, sure, but it’s also a desire to discover what works and what does not and to grow as writers.

In the past five years since we embarked upon this journey, Dan and I have taken some baby steps toward this goal. We’ve published four issues of our anthology, Warrior27, and from that experience – especially the initial trek to Chicago – we have learned a lot. (hit the link for more on that first endeavor) The act of writing every day – I tap away at the laptop after everyone’s in bed while Dan has been chronicling his “Year in Crime” over at his other blog, and he has yet to miss a single day – has also been invaluable. Just being involved with writing on this consistent a basis has made me a far better writer. I understand technical aspects of writing better (things as simple as using a consistent tense or avoiding the passive voice when it suits no purpose, which is a vast majority of the time), and I find myself able to make connections – metaphorical and otherwise – that were beyond me two years ago.

But I digress.

Dan and I have experienced some small bit of success with regard to our writing. In 2008, Dan had a short story accepted for Arcana’s Dark Horrors 2 anthology. “Ticking Away” featured art by Nicolas Colacitti and was also featured in our third issue of Warrior27 and will be reprinted, in color, for the collection. And this past January, I had my first professional comic writing credit in Ape Entertainment’s online UFO anthology and also sold my first short prose story to Dark Recesses Press, both of which will see print for the first time in the new collection.

It’s funny. These little crumbs help keep us going, pushing Dan and I forward in the hope of placing more stories with other publishers and possibly making this a full-time, part-time gig (because very few are able to earn a living only writing). We’ll see. But for now, things are good, and the reality is I’d find it difficult to stop writing now, even if I never got published again.

chris

W27: more preview art

Here's another preview image, newly colored for the upcoming collection of Warrior27, from the story "Come Hell"

Words by Dan Fleming, line art by Dan Lauer.

Enjoy.

chris

Warrior27: the Collection more preview art

Here's another look at one of the stories recently colored for the collection debuting at SPX next month. This one is from Dan's story "Ticking Away" with artist Nicolas Colacitti. Dan managed to place this story, in its black and white incarnation, with Arcana comics and their Dark Horrors 2 anthology, which was very cool.

But I digress. For your viewing pleasure, one of the newly colored pages and the original b/w edition for comparison's sake.

Enjoy,
chris

Warrior27: the Collection preview

For economic reasons, we published our issues of Warrior27 in black and white. Paying for color (not just the actual coloring of the stories but also for the color reproduction) was too cost-prohibitive, and there is a “badge of honor” related to black and white comics when self-publishing. It’s an aesthetic that appeals to me, and one we tried to exploit with the artists we were fortunate to work with.

But with our plans for the collection, we knew there needed to be something new for the book. Dan and I achieved some of that by culling through our personal archives and including new pieces like the spotlight on Bryan Talbot's the Tale of One Bad Rat. But for the comic stories we were reprinting – along with the new comic stories included – we thought it would be nice if we hired someone to color them.
Most of the comic tales from the first four issues are now colored, and will be available in the new collection. At some point, we will try to get those up here on the site and our sister site. But for now, here’s a sample of what you can expect, with the original b/w page for comparison.



Enjoy,
chris

New FYC with Bryan Talbot in W27: the Collection

I’ve written about this before, but one of the best pieces of advice I found regarding writing came from Steven Grant and his former CBR column. Grant stated that one of the best things to do as an aspiring writer is to take the opportunity to write for publication wherever that opportunity may arise. If you have aspirations as a fiction writer, take the chance to write some non-fiction, or write ad copy, or whatever. Any chance to write can only help you improve as a writer, and what you learn can be applied to that expansive novel sitting on your hard drive.

To that end, I answered a call for writers at the Pulse back in early 2007.

For slightly more than a year, I contributed a weekly column to the Pulse spotlighting small press and web comics and their creators. Along with analysis of the comic, each piece included a short Q&A with creators and publishers. Not only was I filling a niche that I felt lacking on the site and getting a chance to highlight some of the great mini-comics and small press books I had discovered after my first trip to SPX, but I also got the chance to interact with some of the creators for whom I have a great admiration.

Some creators I had the privilege of interviewing included Paul Pope, Scott Morse, Marvin Mann, Dean Haspiel, Warren Ellis, and Steve Rude, among others. But when the column finished at the Pulse, there were still a number of articles I had yet to write, with unused interviews sitting on my hard drive. Now, with the new collection, I’ve had a chance to unearth one of these interviews and create a brand new edition of For Your Consideration spotlighting The Tale of One Bad Rat with a short Q&A with writer/artist Bryan Talbot. I’m very excited about this. At some point, I’ll be running the full piece here on the site, but if you want to check it out before then – and get some great comics and prose on top of that – check us out at SPX or keep your eyes peeled for when the book goes on sale here at the site after we return from Maryland.

And, to whet your appetite, here’s a short quote from the interview with Talbot:

“Persistence seems to be the overriding factor [for breaking into comics]. If you have the talent and really want to do it, don't give up. Bad Rat was rejected by every publisher of illustrated books in Britain. This is before the current boom in graphic novels, when "comics" was a dirty word.”

Thanks,
chris

Warrior27: the Collection @ Small Press Expo in September

We’re a month out from SPX – the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland – and my co-conspirator, Dan Fleming, and I will have something new for the show – Warrior27: the Collection. 254 pages, digest-sized, black and white + color interiors, with many of the best pieces from the original issues and some new and never before published pieces, this is a big book of stories in multiple genres with artwork from some of the best artists in the world you’ve never heard of.

Over the past five years, Dan and I have self-published four issues of our comics & prose anthology, Warrior27 (an homage to the early eighties British magazine, Warrior). We wanted a receptacle, so to speak, for the stories we wanted to tell. We love comics – the synergy of words and pictures – and wanted to create our own tales regardless of genre or style. Our initial plans involved multi-part epics that would continue from book to book, but we learned early on that this wasn’t a feasible option considering the fact that we were paying to print these books and probably could not afford to produce more than one issue a year.

So we stepped back, reassessed our plan, and moved forward with self-contained short stories. Many writers have stated that one of the best ways to train for writing a lengthy narrative is to master the short story. Condensing the form to its bare essence allows for growth and expansion later, and many of my favorite authors – Harlan Ellison, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Ray Bradbury, Ernest Hemingway – are masters of the form.

We’re excited for this collection. Not only were we able to go back and color many of the stories that originally were published in black and white, but we have also been able to go back into the “archives” and include some things that never made it into print or onto the web before. In the weeks leading up to SPX, we’ll be showcasing some of the artwork found within the collection and teasing at some of the never before published pieces that now have a home, as we prepare for the trip to Maryland.

So come on back to see what’s coming up, and if you can’t make it to SPX, we’ll be offering the book for sale here on the site once the show is done. And maybe there will be an announcement as far as distribution down the line. We’ll see.

Thanks,
chris