March Projects Update

Despite a bad bout of the flu that I'm only just now getting over, and some other recent crises, I'm working my butt off these days. I'm running a bit behind schedule, but I'm hanging in there.

I'm just wrapping up my script for the first issue of the new Kolchak: The Night Stalker Files ongoing series that I told you guys about last fall. It should be finished Friday. If it passes muster, it'll be winging it's way off to the artist right away. I've seen samples of the guy's work, and the book should look great.

Immediately after that document gets e-mailed off to Moonstone, I'll be calling up artist Richard Clark, who's illustrating the long-delayed Captain Midnight one-shot special, "Assault on Midnight Mesa." He's already done thumbnail layouts of the entire issue from my plot, and we'll be going over them panel-by-panel to make sure that everything works perfectly before he starts on the finished art. Then, I'll be calling Joe Gentile at Moonstone to discuss other Captain Midnight projects, including the equally long-delayed Midnight prose anthology I'm editing and a very exciting new comics project which is projected to feature the good Captain along with a couple of other famous Golden Age aces on a regular basis.

More on that as the plans finalize.

Lots of Femme Noir stuff is on the way! The page above is from this year's Femme Noir story in Ape Entertainment's Free Comic Book Day special, Ape Comics Cartoonapalooza! It's called "Demon Bat," and is penciled by Joe Staton, inked by Mark Stegbauer and colored by Michael Watkins. It will be available in comic book shops on Free Comic Book Day, May 2, 2009.

Also in May, the Femme Noir: Dark City Diaries trade paperback collection will be on sale. As I mentioned a few days ago, it's listed in the current edition of Diamond Comics' PREVIEWS catalog, and if you want to be sure to get a copy, you should head for your favorite comic book shop and pre-order it now. Six complete stories, a cover gallery, original concept art by Joe, an intro by Max Collins... 148 pages on good paper stock for just $20 bucks. C'mon! How can you pass that up?

The original Femme Noir webcomics are currently being re-colored by the above mentioned Mister Watkins, and will be collected in book form as soon as they are completed, along with a brand new story, "The Beast of the City." Before that, though, these completely remastered strips will be appearing on Ape Entertainments new online comics site, ApeCMX.com, starting next month!

There are also plans percolating to make the Dark City Diaries miniseries available for download to people's iPhones in the next month or so. I'll keep you posted.

And if you happen to be in Maine on Sunday, May 17th, you can drop by the Maine Comics Arts Festival in Portland, and get Joe Staton and I to sign your copy! Yep, I'll be making one of my very rare public appearances with my Femme Noir partner Joe at this one-day celebration of indie comics. It's being put on by my good pals at Casablanca Comics, and it looks like it's going to be a blast.
Joe and I have also collaborated on an 8-page western story (a page from that tale is shown above) called "The Face on the Poster." It's inked by my Gravedigger collaborator, Rick Burchett, and is currently being colored by Femme Noir's ace colorist, Michael Watkins. It's scheduled to appear in the second volume of Image Comics' Outlaw Territory Western anthologies. I have no idea when the book is scheduled to come out, but I do know that the story looks gorgeous, and I'm eager to see it in print.

On top of all this stuff I've mentioned so far, Perils on Planet X with Gene Gonzales & Ian Sokolowiski, and Gravedigger: The Predators, with Rick Burchett & Fred Harper, are both continuing to chug along, and I hope to be able to announce publication dates soon.

I've also agreed to write a ghost story for another upcoming Moonstone Monsters prose anthology, this time in collaboration with my lovely wife, Brandi. And I still hope to get started on the Ravenwulf novel before Summer.

Plus, I'm still editing Otis Adelbert Kline's Swords of Venus and Fredric Brown's Martians Go Home! series for Sequential Pulp Comics. They're both looking great!

So, yeah, as I've mentioned before, I'm writing full-time these days, and I only hope that eventually it actually turns into an income-generating endeavor. Your continued support and enthusiasm for my efforts will help that happen sooner, and I truly appreciate it.

Thanks!