Author Archives: steven

Happy 2017, Panatics!

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newyear-skeleton

Believe it, skeleton man—that’s what you get for sleeping through Christmas! Still, I hope Santa and the Krampus brought you—and you Panatics—everything you wished for (or wished on others…mu-ha-ha).

blood-and-iron-cvrTwo thousand seventeen promises to be a busy year for Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, whose plans include—you guessed it!—the much-anticipated release of Blood & Iron: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 3 this October. It’s the conclusion of Pan’s first literary adventure, which began in the first novel, Blood Feud, and continued into Blood Reign, and pits Pan, her family, and her friends—including immortal monster hunter Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin—against the forces of monsterdom, who are led by the fallen angel Zaqiel—who’s also a former lover of Annie’s!

But starring in a new novel isn’t all that’s in store for Pan this year, and if you check out today’s post at the StarWarp Concepts blog, you’ll learn what SWC has in mind for our favorite Goth adventuress, as well as its other publishing plans. Head over there now and give it a read!

So, When’s the Team-Up?

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If, like me, you’re a fan of Marvel’s run of superhero movies—the most recent of which was the blockbuster Doctor Strange, starring Benedict Cumberbatch (a really good film, by the way)—then you’ve probably been waiting to see what was next for their version of the Amazing Spider-Man, who was introduced in Captain America: Civil War and is now played by actor Tom Holland. I certainly have—Spidey’s always been my favorite superhero; in fact, my writing credits include a short story starring him (“The Ballad of Fancy Dan,” cowritten with Ken Grobe for the anthology Untold Tales of Spider-Man) and a young adult novel (Spider-Man Super Thriller: Warrior’s Revenge, ghostwritten for author Neal Barrett Jr.).

Well, not too long ago, the trailer dropped for that next chapter, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and the biggest surprise—for me, at least—was that Spidey and his Aunt May (played this time by Marisa Tomei) have apparently moved from their decades-long comic home of Forest Hills to another Queens, NY neighborhood: Sunnyside—home to none other than a certain monster fighter named Pandora Zwieback!

spidey-homecoming

Yup, that’s Peter Parker in his Spidey costume, hanging out on his fire escape, with Manhattan in the distance, Queens Boulevard below him, and the No. 7 subway train passing by.

So the only question that comes to mind is, of course, when’s the team-up, movie folks? Marvel Presents: Queensborough Team-Up, perhaps? It’s box-office gold, I tells ya!  😀

Sugar and Spice and Everything Goth

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powerpuff-girlsHere’s something I forgot to post some months ago, but it’s a goofy enough image that I thought you might enjoy it. Or at least groan and roll your eyes at it!

Back in April of this year, when Cartoon Network was set to broadcast its revival of their popular animated series The Powerpuff Girls—about a trio of superpowered little girls created in a lab through the combination of “sugar and spice and everything nice” plus Chemical X—one of the promotional tools set up to get the word out was a website called Powerpuff Yourself (which is still active). The idea is that you create your own character from a selection of skin tones, hair colors, clothing, etc. and see what they would look like if they appeared in The Powerpuff Girls.

pandoraz-townsvilleWell, how could I resist?

So say hello to the Powerpuffed version of Pandora Zwieback, dropping by the city of Townsville (where the girls live) for a bit of cartoonish monster hunting. She’s accompanied by her pet cat, Vlad, who’s not interested in fighting monsters—but he wouldn’t mind fighting you for that last bit of food on your plate!

So…how hard did your eyes roll? 😀

Beast Feast Marathon on Movies! Channel

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beast-feastHappy Thanksgiving to all you Panatics across the USA—and outside the US, of course (although I’m pretty sure our particular November holiday is just another Thursday for you). It’s a day of celebration and getting together and things to be thankful for, and for monster fans like you and me, it’s also a day to prepare for another horror movie marathon on the Movies! TV Network, this time being held on Friday.

I’ve been checking out Movies! since it got added to Time Warner Cable’s selection of channels, and they’ve got a pretty decent library of films for different kinds of movie fans. But they really outdid themselves this past Halloween, with an all-day marathon of classic frights. Well, they’re following that up with a post-Thanksgiving monsterfest dubbed Beast Feast!

monster-squadThe day starts off with 1987’s The Monster Squad at 8:00 a.m. (ET), the much-loved story of a group of pre-teen monster fans who suddenly find their hometown under siege from the real Dracula, Wolf Man, Frankenstein’s Monster, Mummy, and Gill-Man (in other words, the Creature From the Black Lagoon).

The programming continues with the 1981 fantasy Dragonslayer, starring Peter MacNicol (Ghostbusters II); 1960’s The Lost World, an adaptation of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel, with Michael Rennie (the original The Day the Earth Stood Still), Jill St. John (Diamonds Are Forever), Claude Rains (The Invisible Man), and David Hedison (TV’s Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea); and 1985’s Silver Bullet, the adaptation of the Stephen King and Bernie Wrightson illustrated novella Cycle of the Werewolf, with Gary Busey (Predator 2) matching wits with a particularly nasty lyncanthrope.

Those are followed by a triple feature starring the Big G, himself: 1992’s Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth; 1995’s Godzilla vs. Destroyah; and 2002’s Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla. And then wrapping up the marathon is 1983’s Cujo, another Stephen King adaptation, this one pitting Dee Wallace (The Howling) against a rabid St. Bernard.

Sounds like a fun day of monster watching. Give it a look while you’re recuperating from all that Thanksgiving turkey!

Happy Local Comic Shop Day 2016!

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Pandora0_CoverToday is Local Comic Shop Day, an annual appreciation “conceived and implemented by ComicsPRO comic book specialty retailers to call attention to locally owned independent comic book specialty stores, celebrating their unique and vital role in being the primary fire-starters of pop culture.” In other words, it’s a way of encouraging comic fans to visit their LCS and give them some business as the holiday season kicks into high gear. So get out there tomorrow and support your LCS!

For more information, including a list of participating stores and the special collectibles they’ll be offering for sale, visit the Local Comic Shop Day website.

But it’s not just the retail shops that have something of interest for comic fans—not when StarWarp Concepts has its own range of comics and graphic novels to offer!

pan_annual2015The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0: A free, downloadable comic that serves as an introduction to the adventures of Pandora Zwieback and her monster-hunting mentor, Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin, with an 8-page story written by me and illustrated by Eliseu Gouveia, and a preview of Pan’s first novel, Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1. Pan is a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets Annie that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world.

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1: A spinoff from the novel series, this 56-page, full-color comic special finds the teenaged Goth adventuress battling vampires and a jealous, man-stealing siren. It features stories by me and Sholly Fisch (Scooby-Doo Team-Up), art by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0), comic-art legend Ernie Colon (Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld), and Elizabeth Watasin (Charm School), and cover art by award-winning artist Henar Torinos (Mala Estrella).

Heartstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa: Long before she met Pan, Annie was the star of this short-lived “bad girl” comic book miniseries published in the 1990s. Here you’ll find Annie doing a bit of research for an article about gentlemen’s clubs in Times Square—research that includes actually performing as an exotic dancer (I did say it was a ’90s comic, didn’t I?). It’s that part-time gig that brings her into contact with Corum de Sade, a heavy metal singer with a deadly secret: he’s a soul-devouring incubus! All three issues—written by me, with art by Uriel Caton (JSA Annual), Holly Golightly (School Bites), and David C. Matthews—are available for free from this very website, so download them today!

heroinesandheroes-1Heroines & Heroes is a collection of comic stories and pinups all drawn by me, dating back to my days in the early 1990s small-press movement—that age of dinosaurs in which creators like me used to make our comics by printing them out on photocopiers and then stapling them by hand. In H&H you’ll find: “V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N (in the Summertime),” a three-page Wonder Woman vs. Harley Quinn story that I wrote and drew in the late ’90s as a sample for a DC Comics editor who thought I’d be a good fit for their Batman: The Animated Series comic (it didn’t work out); “Dirty Laundry,” an adventure of small-presser Jeff Wood’s rabbit-eared superspy, Snowbuni; three pages from the mid-‘90s indie comic Motorbike Puppies; and “I Was a Super-powered Vampire Slayer!,”an adventure of the indie superheroine The Blonde Avenger. Twenty-four pages of comicky goodness—and all for free!

The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special is a digital pirate-fantasy comic created and written by Richard C. White, coauthor of SWC’s supernatural-superhero graphic novel Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings. Drawn by Bill Bryan (artist of Caliber Press’ Dark Oz and DC Comics’ House of Mystery), and featuring cover art and color by Eliseu Gouveia (SWC’s The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual), it’s 48 pages of high-seas adventure perfect for fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise, as well as classics like The Crimson Pirate, Against All Flags, Captain Blood, and The Sea Hawk—and it’s available for download for just 99¢!

SWC_Troubleshooters_CvrTroubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings is a general readers’ graphic novel about a group of supernatural-superheroes-for-hire taking on their first case. The team consists of a wizard, a female ninja, a sorceress, a werewolf, and a rock ’n’ roll lighting designer wearing high-tech armor. Sure, they might not be on a power level with the Avengers or Justice League of America—they’re more like superpowered Ghostbusters—but they get the job done. The graphic novel is written by the husband-and-white team of Richard C. White (The Ultimate Hulk) and Joni M. White, and illustrated by Reggie Golden and Randy Zimmerman.

Snow White: Not really a comic book, but our presentation of the classic story by the Brothers Grimm features full-color illustrations first published in 1883 (and they really are beautiful drawings), and is available for immediate download for the low price of just 99¢!

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual and Troubleshooters Incorporated are available in print and digital formats. Pandora Zwieback #0, Heartstopper, Heroines and Heroes, The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon, and Snow White are digital exclusives. Visit their respective product pages for ordering information, as well as sample pages.

Happy reading!

The Spooky Season’s Not Quite Over Yet…

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book-of-lifeHalloween might have come and gone yesterday, but for folks in Mexico, it was just the beginning of their three-day festival known around the world as Dia de los Muertos: the Day of the Dead!

Beyond the costumes and the skeletons and the candy, it’s a time for families to remember loved ones lost over the years. Let me just borrow this quote posted on Wikipedia, taken from Frances A. Day’s Latina and Latino Voices in Literature, to explain the holiday:

“On October 31, All Hallows Eve, the children make a children’s altar to invite the angelitos (spirits of dead children) to come back for a visit. November 1 is All Saints Day, and the adult spirits will come to visit. November 2 is All Souls Day, when families go to the cemetery to decorate the graves and tombs of their relatives. The three-day fiesta is filled with marigolds, the flowers of the dead; muertos (the bread of the dead); sugar skulls; cardboard skeletons; tissue paper decorations; fruit and nuts; incense, and other traditional foods and decorations.”

If you’re in the mood for a fun, spooky movie that celebrates the…er, spirit (sorry) of this holiday, check out The Book of Life, a 2014 animated film produced by director Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pacific Rim) that features the voices of Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, and Ron Perlman. It’s sort of like a Mexican take on The Nightmare Before Christmas—at least animation-wise—about a bullfighter’s adventures and romances in the afterlife.

And if you’re looking for some StarWarp Concepts treats, how about some free digital comics? Check out this Halloween post from yesterday and see how you can download your own copies of The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0, the horror adventure Heartstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa #1–3, and the superheroine-themed Heroines and Heroes.

Have a safe and happy Day of the Dead!

Comic Book Treats for Online Trick-or-Treaters

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Pandora0_CoverHappy Halloween! If you’re a horror fan like me (and Pan, of course), then All Hallows’ Eve is probably your favorite time of year, so in keeping with the fine tradition of handing out free treats to boils and ghouls everywhere, the folks at Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, and I have some digital-comic offerings for you!

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0: A full-color introduction to the young adult novel series of the same name, hosted by Pan herself. Pan is a girl with the ability to see the monsters that regular humans can’t, and with the help of a 400-year-old monster hunter named Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin, she’s going to protect the world from danger—and maybe even have some fun while doing it.

This 16-page comic features a seven-page story written by me, with art and color by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1, Lorelei: Sects and the City), and includes two sample chapters from Blood Feud, the first Pan novel.

Heartstopper_CoverHeartstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa #1–3: Before she became Pan’s monster-hunting mentor, Sebastienne Mazarin made her debut in this short-lived, 1990s Mature Readers series from Millennium Publications. A nefarious heavy metal band has arrived in New York City, and its lead singer is more than just a sex magnet for his female fans—he’s an incubus! Will Annie put an end to his plans for worldwide chaos, or fall prey to his supernatural charms?

Written by me (of course), issue 1 is drawn by Pan and Annie co-creator Uriel Caton (JSA Annual) and inker Alan Larsen (Femforce); issue 2 is penciled by Uriel, Holly Golightly (School Bites), and David C. Matthews (Satin Steele) and inked by Larsen; and issue 3 is penciled by Holly, with four pages of inks by “Chainsaw” Chuck Majewski (Harvey Kurtzman’s New Two-Fisted Tales).

heroinesandheroes-1Heroines and Heroes is our latest free digital comic. It’s a collection of comic stories I’ve drawn over the years, starring indie characters the Blonde Avenger, the anthropomorphic Motorbike Puppies, and the humanoid-rabbit spy Snowbuni. The feature story is “V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N (in the Summertime),” a short adventure that I wrote and drew in the late 1990s as an audition for DC Comics’ Batman: The Animated Series comic (spoiler: I didn’t get the job), and pits the Harley Quinn—Clown Princess of Crime and star of this past summer’s blockbuster film Suicide Squad—against none other than Wonder Woman!

All these comics are available for download right now, so visit their respective product pages at StarWarp Concepts and add them to your digital trick-or-treat bags today!

Halloween TV Marathons: Turner Classic Movies

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tcm_kong_logoWrapping up our overview of U.S. cable-TV Halloween programming, this time we focus the spotlight on the mother lode of classic horror flicks: the schedule for TCM, Turner Classic Movies. Halloween’s a major event for TCM—they dedicate the entire month of October to it! This year’s marathon is hosted by Ron Perlman (Hellboy himself!).

Halloween weekend is especially busy for the network, and a must-see for horror fans; this past Friday night’s lineup alone boasted Bela Lugosi in 1931’s Dracula, Boris Karloff in 1932’s The Mummy, Claude Rains in 1933’s The Invisible Man, and Lon Chaney in 1941’s The Wolfman! And the classic shocks continued all day Saturday and Sunday, leading up to tonight’s and tomorrow’s schedules:

youngfrankensteinStarting at 8:00 p.m. (ET) on October 30, it’s Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn, and Peter Boyle in the Mel Brooks–directed 1974 comedy Young Frankenstein, followed by another horror-comedy classic, with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello on the run from Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, Lon Chaney’s Wolfman, and Glenn Strange’s Frankenstein monster in 1941’s Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (one of my all-time-favorite movies).

At midnight (Halloween!), it’s Lon Chaney making an immediate return to the movie schedule in 1925’s silent horror-comedy The Monster, followed by 1955’s French psychological thriller Diabolique. Charles Boyer tries to drive wife Ingrid Bergman crazy in 1944’s Gaslight. Bela Lugosi and on-screen daughter Carroll Borland rise from the grave in 1935’s Mark of the Vampire. Producer Val Lewton springs were-panther Simone Simon on audiences in 1942’s Cat People. Another Lewton production, 1943’s I Walked With a Zombie, has nurse Frances Dee encounter one of the walking dead. Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now) makes his proper directorial debut in 1963’s Dementia 13, produced by B-movie master Roger Corman.

house-haunted-hillThen Vincent Price stalks the halls of 1953’s House of Wax. Boris Karloff introduces the three tales of director Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath, from 1963. It’s followed by another anthology: 1945’s Dead of Night. Vincent Price returns in 1958’s House on Haunted Hill, produced by B-movie-gimmick king William Castle. The Haunting is director Robert Wise’s 1963 adaptation of author Shirley Jackson’s acclaimed novel The Haunting of Hill House. Then it’s a Christopher Lee triple feature, with 1968’s The Devil’s Bride (aka The Devil Rides Out), 1959’s The Mummy—with Lee as the title character and his longtime friend (and Dracula film series nemesis) Peter Cushing as the hero—and the 1959 adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, with Cushing as Holmes and Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville.

The Halloween celebration winds down in the wee hours of November 1’s morning, with three final Lee entries: 1961’s Scream of Fear, 1960’s The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll, and 1976’s To the Devil…a Daughter. Six Christopher Lee films in a row—that’s one hell of a way to close out the holiday!

And then Halloween 2016 is over. But don’t fret, horror fans, it’s a good bet that TCM is already making plans for next year’s countdown!