This Weekend: BANGOR COMIC & TOY CONVENTION

 For those of you Maine and New England folks attending the Bangor Comic & Toy Convention at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine this weekend, I'll be there all day on Saturday and Sunday, and will have sale copies of the Femme Noir comic books (tho I'm almost out of issue #1), Gravedigger (comics & trades), Shadow House, the Night Driver graphic novel, and the Kolchak The Night Stalker trade paperback collections that contain the two Kolchak miniseries I wrote. I'll also have a few copies of the Spider Chronicles, Captain Midnight Chronicles and Werewolves: Dead Moon Rising short story anthologies available.

In addition, my lovely better half, Brandi, will have some of her handmade geek-themed jewelry for sale at our table for you craftsy types.

Saturday afternoon, at 2:00, I'll be doing a panel (is it still a panel, if you're alone?) on Comics Writing, and Saturday night, around 8 PM, I'll be hosting a sci-fi double feature screening of 1953's Cat Women Of The Moon and 1959's Teenagers From Outer Space.

Hoping to meet a lot of cool new people (and customers!) and maybe catch up with some old friends. Hey, you never know.

On Sale Now: KOLCHAK - THE NIGHT STRANGLER FILES

Moonstone Books' Kolchak: The Night Strangler Files is available now, evidently (link directs to Amazon's product page). This volume contains my second Kolchak miniseries, along with an adaptation of Richard Matheson's screenplay for the second Kolchak TV movie.

I'm not as pleased with it as the first miniseries I wrote for Moonstone ("Night Stalker of the Living Dead," collected in Kolchak Tales: Monsters Among Us) for various reasons, but it's still nice to see it collected. Also cool to have my name on the same cover with the maestro, Richard Matheson.

KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STRANGLER FILES

Huh. Apparently Moonstone is collecting my three-issue Kolchak: The Night Stalker Files run from a few years back in a trade paperback with their adaptation of the second Matheson-scripted telefilm, The Night Strangler.

This was my second Kolchak miniseries for them, after Night Stalker Of The Living Dead (collected in this volume). I'm not quite as happy with this series, for a variety of reasons. That said, it's cool that my name is on a book cover with Richard Matheson!

It does still bug me that they insist on billing me as "Chris," since I use my full name professionally, dammit.

I won't be seeing any money on this, I'm guessing, but if you're interested, it will be out in December and can be pre-ordered now through Diamond Distribution.

Richard Matheson R.I.P.

Sadly, after an anxious day of rumors on Facebook and Twitter, it has been confirmed that the extraordinarily talented fantasist Richard Matheson has departed this plane at age 87 after a long illness.

Matheson has always been one of my greatest literary influences and inspirations, a man whose imagination knew no limits, who could see the fantastic in the mundane world around us, and paint vivid, indelible, unforgettable images with words. He was a master, and his influence on popular culture - from the Twilight Zone to The Incredible Shrinking Man to Roger Corman's colorful Poe films to Somewhere In Time (the movie theme was played at our wedding) to I Am Legend and beyond - is immeasurable. In fact, I was just watching the 1971 film adaptation of Legend, The Omega Man, last night.

When I was writing my Kolchak The Night Stalker comic book miniseries a few years ago, it was Matheson's teleplays for the original TV movies that I used as my guide to the character.

Rest in peace, sir.

Wednesday Cover: Kolchak

The third issue of Moonstone's Kolchak: The Night Stalker Files goes on sale today. This is my last issue, and it's by my own choice. Recurring health issues simply made it unfeasible for me to maintain a regular schedule. While the publishers were inhumanly patient, I finally decided that it wasn't fair to them or the readers, and regretfully chose to leave the book.

I am proud of what work I did on the title - and the Kolchak: Night Stalker Of The Living Dead miniseries (collected HERE) - and am grateful to Moonstone for the opportunity to write the character. I hope I did Jeff Rice's creation justice.

I know that Moonstone has plenty more Kolchak on the way by a variety of talented creators, and I expect to continue to do the occasional project with the company. I have agreed to write a short Captain Midnight novel for them, for example, and still hope to get some more Captain Midnight comics off the ground... eventually.

The atmospheric cover above was painted by Woodrow Hinton III.

Wednesday Cover: Kolchak: The Night Stalker Files #2

Here are two alternate covers for Kolchak: The Night Stalker Files #2, which should be in comic shops this week or next, and can be ordered directly from Moonstone now. The cover above (which has nothing to do with the story, although the girl does resemble a character introduced within the issue) is by interior artist Jaime Martinez. The cover below (which also has nothing to do with the story, but certainly is a damned cool illustration) is by Woodrow Hinton III.

Wednesday Cover: KOLCHAK

This week we present Mark Maddox's gorgeous alternate cover for the first issue of Moonstone's new Kolchak: The Night Stalker Files ongoing comic book series, written by yours truly and on sale tomorrow.

Yep. It's been a long time coming, but it will be hitting the shelves of comic shops this Thursday.

More evidence that I do, indeed, exist.

Tonight's Double Feature:

Ahhh... This is actually how I first watched The Night Stalker - on the CBS Late Movie.

I was too young to be allowed to watch Kolchak when the show originally aired in prime time, but, by my teens, when I could stay up late once in a while, I discovered that CBS ran episodes regularly as part of their Late Movie rotation. Man, TV actually used to be good.

Night Stalking in Graphite

Here are three pages of pencils by artist Jaiime Martinez from the new, Kolchak The Night Stalker ongoing series that I'm writing for Moonstone Books. Entirely because of me, this project has taken far longer to get started than anyone wanted, but - I'm getting back on track, and, in fact, am writing a new script this week.

Nice art, though, right? Okay, sure, there's not a lot happening in these pages - it's primarily an expositional scene - but Jaiime does a great job capturing both the atmosphere and real-world nature of Carl Kolchak's universe. I like it and am eager to see the finished product.

More previews soon.

Winter of my Discontent

Or something like that. Winter's finally here, with roughly a foot of snow on the ground from today's storm. The farmhouse is drafty and chilly, and the dog isn't quite so eager to go outside during the day... and certainly doesn't dawdle when she does.

I've been going through a period of self-examination and trying to take some positive action toward improving my - and my family's - situation. Persistent health and financial problems (which go hand-in-hand) have had me down for too long - years! - and I'm hopeful that some of the steps I've recently taken will help me turn things around.

I'm working on more Kolchak the Night Stalker and Captain Midnight scripts for Moonstone, and have signed on to contribute further prose stories to the company's line of pulp anthologies. I also expect the Femme Noir webcomics collection and new Gravedigger graphic novel to see print in the new year. Other projects are also continuing to creep along, and I'll let you know once I have a firmer idea of their publication date.

Unfortunately, I've fallen off track a bit with my DVD Late Show column for Forces of Geek, and am working hard to get that back on schedule. I've got a lot of discs to review, and writing the column is something I really enjoy doing.

This winter I'm working out of a different room, having moved my office a few months ago. This one is warmer (with the space heater, anyway) and has a door I can close, so hopefully it will be a more conducive atmosphere to work and write in.

We're rapidly closing in on the end of the year. And, frankly, I can't say that I'm going to miss 2009 when it's gone. I'm hoping that as we move into the second decade of the 21st century, I can finally shake off some of the things that have been holding me back (both internal and external) and start making some serious progress toward accomplishing some long-held goals. Like writing that novel, for instance, or actually making a reasonable living again.

It's really tough to be - and then stay - positive these days, and it's not something I've got much experience with. But... I'm trying.

Thanks for being there, guys and gals. It helps.

Kolchak: Monsters Among Us

Moonstone Books will be collecting my Kolchak Tales: Night Stalker of the Living Dead miniseries, illustrated by Tim Hamilton (Fahrenheit 451), in the forthcoming trade paperback collection Kolchak the Night Stalker: Monsters Among Us.

Along with the Living Dead miniseries, the volume will also contain the Kolchak Tales: The Frankenstein Agenda, by David Michelinie and Don Hudson. That's the wraparound cover above, by artist Woodrow Hinton.

Here's the official info:

Kolchak the Night Stalker: Monsters Among Us

Written by David Michelinie, Christopher Mills

Art by : Don Hudson, Tim Hamilton

Cover: Woodrow J. Hinton III

188pgs, 7” x 10”, $18.95

10 digit: 1-933076-59-3

13 digit: 978-1-933076-59-1

TV’s premiere paranormal investigator returns!

“Mills' purple prose narration evokes Darren McGavin's voice and gives the book the verisimilitude necessary to contrast the premise as well as serve as a catalyst for comedy.” -comicbulletin.com

Two, two, TWO titanic and terrifying tales, collecting the Kolchak "Frankenstein Agenda" and "Night Stalker of the Living Dead" miniseries!

The farmlands don't always hold peace and quiet, as these two complementing Kolchak tales illustrate with an eerie clarity. In one town, Kolchak stumbles across a hulking mutation of a man-gone-wrong, and becomes as wanted by the U.S. Army as the creature they are stalking! And in yet another small town, there is a secret behind the silent, endless acres of corn... a secret that is turning townsfolk into decaying, walking dead! Kolchak had best use his... BRAAAAINS... if he's going to get out of this one!

It's already available for pre-order at Amazon.

What? It's August already?!

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. My gout still hasn't gone away, even though the worst of the pain has subsided and I have been able to work again the last few days. It turns out that the gout is most likely caused by the fact that I now only have one kidney, and that one's not working at 100%, so it's probably not producing enough uric acid. Gout, paradoxically, can apparently be caused by having either too much or too little uric acid in your system.

Unfortunately the best medication for treating gout has the potential to damage kidneys, and since I only got one and it's fragile enough already, my doc doesn't want to prescribe it. As she says, I'm "basically screwed." (Yeah, she can be pretty blunt.) So it looks like I'm doomed to experience this particular "ailment of kings" for the rest of my life. And since I also have an unusually high resistance to pain killers... well, my doc put it most succinctly when she said, "Gee, sucks to be you."

Sigh.

Last weekend, my wife and I switched offices. The room I'd chosen when we moved in proved to be too small for all my crap, and as I had a new computer coming for design gigs, I needed additional space for a second work station. So we switched.

My back is still killing me. Desks and books and bookcases and comic boxes are friggin' heavy.

Still, I rather like my new workspace. I'm actually able to display more of my toys (or, as I think of them, inspirations), and now have all my bookcases in one room. I do know that it gets really cold in here in the winter... but I'll deal with that when the time comes. And – I got a new desk chair, so I don't have to use the wooden kitchen chair anymore.

I picked up a few interesting DVDs recently, among them the latest Doctor Who adventure, Planet of the Dead, (liked it) and the latest DC animated feature, Green Lantern: First Flight. I've read some online reviews complaining that the Green Lantern movie is just a cop story set in space, but, um, Green Lantern is a cop in space! With a magic ring! Personally, I loved it... and I was worried I wouldn't, because I really disliked the studio's previous Wonder Woman film.

But, as far as I'm concerned, GL: First Flight is a terrific adventure with some very nice design, animation and excellent voice work, especially on the part of Victor Garber.

We also rented the latest Torchwood series (a Doctor Who spin-off) through Netflix, Children of Earth. I thought it was about 90% successful. It had shocking moments, a downright terrifying alien threat, and some truly horrible ethical choices that the characters had to make. Unfortunately, I thought the main character was, well, somewhat out of character, and I was a bit let down by the ending.

Still, though, it was a pretty remarkable, disturbing five hours of sci-fi drama, and I'm really glad we watched it.

As far as my projects go, I'm trying to make up for my nearly three week incapacitation, and am working on a new Kolchak script for Moonstone. I planned on having it done back at the end of June, so it's my current priority.

I spoke with my Gravedigger collaborators Rick Burchett and Fred Harper today, and according to Rick, he's only a couple pages from completing the second half of the next Gravedigger graphic novella, The Predators! The first half is inked, and Fred will start in on the second half just as soon as Rick sends him the penciled pages. I've given up trying to predict when my comics will be finished, but we all want it out for next Spring.

Richard Clark is steadily sending me lovely pages from our Captain Midnight Zero issue, so that's coming along nicely, and I also received pages this week from Gene Gonzales for Perils On Planet X. They're beautiful – as you can see for yourself from the panels above.

It may take a while, but we'll get there!

I also re-connected with a talented artist I knew about ten years ago, and we're discussing the possibility of collaborating on a new creator-owned comics project. I hope we can get it off the ground – it's another one of those concepts I've been wanting to do for twenty years.

And, finally, the comics line that I'm editing for Michael Hudson – Sequential Pulp – is nearing take off. Our first title, Fredric Brown's Martians, Go Home, adapted from the classic novel by Martin Powell and Mike Manley, will be solicited through Dark Horse Comics this Fall, with Otis Adelbert Kline's Swords of Venus hopefully following soon after.

Then I'll really be busy!

Early Sunday Morning

It's been an interesting few weeks. I've been very busy writing and trying to write, and I turned in my first script for what is intended to be a new ongoing Kolchak series from Moonstone some days ago. Hopefully, it will pass muster with everyone necessary (it is a licensed property, after all), and I'll get to write more.

I've also put all the finishing touches on the Femme Noir: Dark City Diaries trade paperback. I'm not going to beg everyone to pre-order it again – I figure that if you read this blog, you've already made up your mind and are sick of hearing me grovel. But I do want to say how exciting this is for me. This will be my first genuine graphic novel (The Night Driver was an adaptation; it wasn't mine), and I've been working so damned long on the project that having a nice, thick, bookshelf edition of the material to hold in my hand and place on my shelves is going to be so sweet.

That I also was able to personally design and lay-out the book makes it even more satisfying. This thing is going to be exactly the way I want it; of course, any mistakes will be mine, too. That's why I haven't shipped off all the files quite yet (that will be late tonight). I've been going over them with the proverbial fine-toothed comb, determined that there will be no embarrassing typos in this volume. (That, of course, just jinxed it. Sigh.)

The long-gestating Captain Midnight project finally seems to be coming together, as well. It's been an exciting week on that score – artist Rich Clark has laid out the "zero issue" completely, and we went over his layouts together a few days ago. They look great. He's also painted a knock-out of a cover. Once we've run it by the publishers and gotten their reaction, I'll be sure to share it with you guys here.

Finally, this past week, I was offered a design gig, one that will allow me to get a brand-new, state-of-the-art computer, with a whole bunch of software and software upgrades I've been needing for a long time. Not only will this make the aforementioned gig possible, but should make it possible for me to accept more of the opportunities that occasionally come my way, opportunities that I've had to turn down because I lacked the technical means to do them.

I'm also hoping that it will allow me to pursue a personal side project that I've been wanting to do for a few years. More on that later, if it comes together.

Anyway, it's late (or, more accurately, very early) and I should get to bed so I can rise at a reasonable (for me) hour. I'll try and post more frequently in the next few weeks, but I still have a lot on my plate, and I'm not sure how much blogging time I'll have.

Later.

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!

Kind Words From Uncle Tony

Tony Isabella, the creator of the DC Comics character Black Lightning, former DC and Marvel writer and editor, columnist and reviewer has just posted to his website the reviews he wrote for the first two issues of Femme Noir: The Dark City Diaries and Kolchak Tales: Night Stalker of the Living Dead miniseries for the Comics Buyers Guide magazine a couple months ago. At the end, he gives a little update, with his views on the third issues, which came out after the reviews were originally published:

...Femme Noir: Dark City Diaries #3 which pits the mysterious Blonde Justice against a "Killer In Steel." Let us heap more well-deserved kudos on Mills and Staton.

And Kolchak Tales: Night Stalker of the Living Dead #3 wrapped up that Mills-written thriller with a satisfying, shocking, and thoughtful conclusion. I continue to shake my head in abject bafflement that this writer has been overlooked by the big outfits and by far too many comics readers.

Quite a compliment, and especially gratifying, coming, as it does, from a talented creator that I've long respected and admired. Thanks, Tony. A little ego boost like this is always appreciated.

Kolchak Kontest Winner

The names went into my Indiana Jones™ fedora, and my wife picked out a winner...

Charles Gramlich!

The signed variant cover editions of the Kolchak Tales: Night Stalker of the Living Dead miniseries will be going in the mail on Monday. Congratulations, Charles, and a big thanks to everyone who entered!

Kolchak Kontest Reminder

Here's a quick head's up – the Kolchak giveaway ends at midnight Friday, so if you want a chance to pick up the variant cover editions of the Kolchak Tales: Night Stalker of the Living Dead miniseries from Moonstone Books, you need to get your entry in before then.

Details and rules in THIS post.

Winner will be announced on Saturday.

Kolchak Kontest

When Moonstone Books published the Kolchak Tales: Night Stalker of the Living Dead miniseries, they also released very limited variant cover editions of each issue (seen above), drawn by Moonstone Art Director/Kolchak editor Dave Ulanski, with colors by Ken Wolak. These variants were so limited in number that even I only have one extra set.

Because you folks have been so supportive of my work on the book, I'm going to give away that extra set to one of you. All you have to do is send an e-mail containing your name and mailing address to atomicpulp@gmail.com with the words "Kolchak Kontest" in the subject line. I'll pick one entry at random, and send the complete set – signed, of course – to the lucky winner.

Entries must be received by midnight Friday, December 12th. The winner will be announced sometime on Saturday. Good luck, and thanks for your support!

One entry per person, please. Double entries will be disqualified. One winner will be drawn at random and announced on Saturday, December 13, 2008. The winner’s name will be posted here and will be notified via email. All entries will be deleted immediately after the contest’s close, and no personal information will be retained or transmitted to any third parties. The contest is open to anyone, in any country. Unfortunately, I cannot assume responsibility for items lost or damaged in transit.

It Couldn't Happen Here...

Well, it looks like I will be returning to the world of Carl Kolchak, The Night Stalker.

We're still working out the details, but apparently the high muckety-mucks at Moonstone Books were pleased with the way the Night Stalker of the Living Dead miniseries worked out, and have asked me to write a new, relaunched Kolchak ongoing series.

The final title is yet to be determined, as is the schedule, so I can't even guess when the book will premiere. I won't even start writing scripts until January. I can tell you that my plan is to shake up Carl's world a bit, with a new job, a new base of operations, a new supporting cast (although I won't be cutting Vincenzo out entirely), and maybe even a new suit. But Kolchak will still be Kolchak, and if you read my miniseries, you already have an idea of the way I handle the character. The plan is to do mostly one and two-issue stories with some ongoing subplots and character arcs, and to take the intrepid reporter to some places he's never been before.

The book is intended as a jumping-on point for new readers; while I'll do my best not to contradict anything in the Moonstone Kolchak continuity, you won't have to be intimately familiar with the previous comics in order to follow the new series.

Now, the publisher has not made a formal announcement of this, and probably won't for some time. But we have come to an agreement, and I'm hopeful that everything will go smoothly. I'm a big fan of the character and had a great time writing the miniseries (despite it being written during probably the worst period of my life), and I'm looking forward to charting his course in a new regular series.

I'll keep you all posted.