Category Archives: eliseu gouveia

DriveThru Fiction’s 2024 Dracula Sale Is On!

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Here’s a pleasant surprise: Just in time for Memorial Day Weekend (in the U.S.) this Friday—the start of summer beach-reading—and the celebration of World Dracula Day on May 26 (the date when Bram Stoker’s seminal novel went on sale in 1897), e-book distributors DriveThru Comics and DriveThru Fiction are currently running a Dracula Sale, during which you can purchase digital books and comics involving the Lord of Vampires at special prices! It runs until May 31—and yes, you’ll need to set up an account (it’s free) to take advantage of this promotion.

So why is it a “pleasant surprise”? Because included among the participating publishers is StarWarp Concepts (which I didn’t know about in advance), and selected for the sale is SWC’s most popular Illustrated Classic:

Before Edward and Bella, before Lestat and Louis, even before Dracula and Mina, there was the tale of Carmilla and Laura.

Living with her widowed father in a dreary old castle in the woods of Styria, Laura has longed to have a friend with whom she can confide; a friend to bring some excitement to her pastoral lifestyle. And then Carmilla enters her life.

Left by her mother in the care of Laura’s father, Carmilla is young, beautiful, playful—everything Laura had hoped to find in a companion. In fact, the lonely girl is so thrilled to have a new friend that she is willing to overlook the dark-haired beauty’s strange actions…which include a disturbing, growing obsession for her lovely hostess.

Carmilla, it seems, desires more than just friendship from Laura….

The blood-drenched temptress of a 19th-century vampiric “romance” by author J. Sheridan Le Fanu (Uncle Silas, In a Glass Darkly), Carmilla is a vampiress who desires not just blood but love from her victims, and when she enters the life of a young woman named Laura, Carmilla decides that her new friend will become her next great love—and won’t take no for an answer.

Carmilla was an influence on Bram Stoker in the creation of the vampire brides in Dracula, and she remains a popular character in fiction to this day. The novella has also influenced generations of writers, and has been adapted for the screen many times, including Hammer’s The Vampire Lovers and director Roger Vadim’s Blood and Roses.

The StarWarp Concepts edition features exclusive illustrations by Eliseu Gouveia (A Princess of Mars, The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1, Lorelei: Sects and the City).

Fans of gothic literature have certainly enjoyed it:

“The way Le Fanu blends together desire and predation is spellbinding. A true Gothic story, Carmilla is great fun.”—Gothic Beauty Magazine

“Carmilla is a must-read for any true fan of vampire fiction.”—LoveVampires.com

“Like many vampire romances, Carmilla and Laura’s love is doomed and unhealthy, but glorious.”—io9

“Carmilla is an enthralling wonderland ripe with blood and death. Curl up with this little sleeper if you like your creatures of the night with just a little dash of pixie dust and wolfsbane.”—ClassicHorror.com

Again, the Dracula Sale runs through May 31, so head over to the StarWarp Concepts publisher page at DriveThru Fiction and start shopping!

It’s Will Eisner Week 2024!

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Yes, it’s time again for Will Eisner Week: an annual celebration—held every year from March 1 to March 7—run by the Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation, to promote literacy, graphic novels, free speech, and the legacy of the late Will Eisner, the creator of the 1940s masked crimefighter The Spirit, and one of the founding fathers of American graphic novels.

A Contract with God, A Life Force, Dropsie Avenue, and The Dreamer are just some of the fascinating tales Eisner wrote and drew, featuring ordinary people in extraordinary (and sometimes not-so-extraordinary but more slice-of-life) situations. And even though he passed away in 2005, Eisner continues to inspire generations of writers and artists. Events are being held this week around the world, so visit the Will Eisner Week site for more information.

StarWarp Concepts, of course, has its share of graphic novels and comics, with a couple that might pique your interest:

Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings: Perfect for superhero fans, this graphic novel is about a supernatural team of superfolk-for-hire, consisting of a wizard, a sorceress, a female ninja, a high-tech-armor-wearing rock concert lighting designer, and a werewolf. Not every superhero team has Tony Stark’s billions to play with, you understand, and the Troubleshooters are just looking to earn a living while fighting the monsters that have always lurked in the shadows. Night Stalkings presents the TSI members on their first mission: protecting a multimillionaire from a trio of Middle Eastern demons out to raise a little hell! It’s written by the husband-and-wife team of Richard C. White (For a Few Gold Pieces More, Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination) and Joni M. White, illustrated by Reggie Golden and Randy Zimmerman, and features cover art by Richard Dominguez (El Gato Negro).

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1: Although it may not be a graphic novel, at 56 pages it’s still a pretty thick comic book, with three stories of Pan and the monsters that live in her New York City hometown. This full-color special contains: “Song of the Siren” by Steven A. Roman and artist Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0), in which Pan has to contend with her boyfriend Javier’s ex-girlfriend—who turns out to be a mythological siren; “After Hours” by writer Sholly Fisch (The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries), and comic-art legend Ernie Colon (Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld), about a demon relaxing in a bar after a hard day of scaring people; and “Shopping Maul,” a short story by yours truly with title-page art by Elizabeth Watasin (Charm School), in which Pan and her friends encounter some Elegant & Gothic Lolita vampires at a shopping mall. Cover art is provided by Henar Torinos (Mala Estrella, OmniTubers Secretos).

Both titles are available in print and digital formats, so visit their respective product pages at StarWarp Concepts for ordering information, as well as sample pages.

Happy reading!

DriveThru’s New Year, New Comics 2024 E-book Sale Is On!

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Holy unexpected promotions!

I just happened to drop by the home of DriveThru Comics, one of StarWarp Concepts’ e-book distributors, and saw they’re currently running a New Year, New Comics Sale, in which the first volumes of all publishers’ graphic novels are available at discounted prices. And among those bargains is…Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1?

Okay, Blood Feud is a young adult novel, not a graphic novel, but it is a first volume and it does feature a cover painting by comic-art legend Bob Larkin (Star Trek, Star Wars, Vampirella, Dazzler, Doc Savage) and a frontispiece illustration by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1, The Legend of Calamity Jane: The Devil Herself, Stargate Universe), and I am the writer of the Pan Zwieback and Calamity Jane comics, so I guess that’s close enough!

Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1, of course, is my young adult novel that’s perfect for lovers of dark urban fantasy. It introduces readers to Pandora Zwieback, 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 professional monster hunter Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin 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. 

In Blood Feud, Pan, her parents and friends, and Annie are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a key that just so happens to have been delivered to the horror-themed museum owned by Pan’s father!

“Far and away one of the best young adult supernatural fantasy novels. Pan is exactly the kind of teen heroine that readers should be standing up and cheering for.”—HorrorNews.net

Got your interest? Good! The New Year, New Comics Sale runs now through January 19th, so head over to the StarWarp Concepts publisher page at DriveThru Comics, and (if you haven’t done so already) get introduced to Pandora Zwieback!

Happy Free Comic Book Day 2023!

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Rejoice, comic book fans, because once again it’s time for Free Comic Book Day at brick-and-mortar and online comic shops around the world! 

Free Comic Book Day is when publishers make available free print and/or digital comics for comic fans (but not free, of course, to the retailers who ordered all those comics to hand out).

Held the first Saturday in May, this year’s event is timed to coincide with the release of Marvel Studios’ latest movie—as is the case with the super space actioner Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3, the concluding adventure in the Guardians Trilogy (plus the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, on Disney+) and the Marvel Universe swansong of writer/director James Gunn, who’s now in charge of guiding the superfolk of the DC Cinematic Universe to hopefully the same level of success he achieved with their properties The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker. 

(After just seeing Guardians 3, I’m really looking forward to Gunn’s DCU reboot feature Superman: Legacy, which he’s writing and directing, and the HBO Max monster-themed animated series Creature Commandos, which he also wrote.). 

And in keeping with FCBD’s fine tradition of gifting comics to fans everywhere, here are the offerings from Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, that you can download—for free!

Heroines & Heroes: A collection of comic stories and pinups all drawn by Steven A. Roman (that’s 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 mainstream heroes and small-press heroines, and even a couple of anthropomorphic bikers. Leading off is “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). The WW/Harley matchup is followed by an adventure of small-presser Jeff Wood’s rabbit-eared superspy, Snowbuni; three pages from the long-canceled indie comic Motorbike Puppies; and an adventure of the indie superheroine The Blonde Avenger.

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 16-year-old New York City Goth who’s not only a horror fangirl but someone with the rare ability to see the for-real monsters that regular humans can’t (she calls it her “monstervision”), and with the help of a 400-year-old, shape-shifting monster hunter named Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin, she’s learning how to protect her family, her friends, and the world from the supernatural dangers out there—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, Carmilla, A Princess of Mars), and includes two sample chapters from Blood Feud, the first Pan novel.

Both comics are available for download right now, so visit their respective product pages at StarWarp Concepts for more information, including sample pages.