A Pan-tastic Comics Preview

Posted on by

Interested in taking a look at The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1, Pan’s first full-length comics adventure, which goes on sale May 22, 2013 at finer comic shops? Of course you are!

Head on over to the StarWarp Concepts Web site and check out the first six pages of “Song of the Siren,” a story written by me and drawn and colored by Eliseu Gouveia, who provided the art for the free comic The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0 and StarWarp Concepts’ mature-readers graphic novel Lorelei: Sects and the City. It’s about Pan and Javier Maldonado’s first official outing as girlfriend and boyfriend, and the encounter they have with one of Javi’s old girlfriends—who’s not what she appears to be…

Also appearing in the annual is “Shopping Maul,” a short story I wrote that involves Pan, Javi, Pan’s best friend Sheena McCarthy, and and Pan’s monster-hunting mentor Sebastienne butting heads with a trio of Elegant & Gothic Lolita vampires. It sports a great title page illustration by artist Elizabeth Watasin (Charm School, The Dark Victorian). Plus there’s a “Tale of the Paniverse” by DC Comics writer Sholly Fisch (Action Comics, All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold) and comic-art legend Ernie Colon (Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld), about a demon paying a visit to his favorite pub.

The annual is being distributed to the direct market by Diamond Comics Distributor and is currently listed in the March 2013 edition of Diamond Previews. Ask your local comic shop owner to order it today!

 

Nerd is the Word for Pandora Zwieback Fans

Posted on by

I don’t know about you, but I never get tired of receiving positive reviews of Blood Feud, the first Pandora Zwieback novel—and here’s the latest! This time, the praise comes from Aida Jacobs, the Girly Geek of the comic news Web site Word of the Nerd:

 

“Roman continues to prove his skill with the English language all throughout the pages of this tome by painting vivid pictures with words that you normally would not put together…but once your eyes glance over them, you can’t stop yourself from imagining the image they create at length within your mind…”

Read the entire review by clicking on the logo above.

 

Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 E-book Now at Lower Price

Posted on by

With Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2 scheduled for release this May, we here at The ’Warp thought it would be the perfect time to make the first Pan novel available to a wider readership. Makes sense, right?

Therefore, we’ve lowered the price of all digital versions of Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1—PDF, ePub, and .prc (Kindle compatible)—from $3.99 to just $2.99!

You can download the lower-priced Blood Feud from the Kindle store at Amazon.com, the NOOK Book Store at Barnes & Noble, Apple’s iBookstore, the Sony Reader Store, and Kobo, the SWC stores at Smashwords and DriveThru Fiction, or directly from the StarWarp Concepts webstore. Just visit the Blood Feud product page at StarWarp Concepts for all the links.

If you’ve been reluctant to pick up Pan’s first literary appearance, or know someone who’d love to meet our resident Goth adventuress, there’s no better time than right now to do so!

Pandora Zwieback: Coming to Comic Shops in May 2013!

Posted on by

Zwieback Nation continues to expand! First our Goth adventuress took the literary market by storm, and now Diamond Comic Distributors—the U.S.’s #1 comic-related distribution company—has picked up The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1, our first full-length Pan comic, for the direct market! And to make that easy to remember, just print out the handy product information listing you see here, take it to your local comic shop owner, and ask them to order it.

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1 is Pan’s first foray into comic book adventures, not counting the introductory comic The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0 (still available for free download). Behind some stunning cover art by Henar Torinos (Mala Estrella), you’ll find three tales: “Song of the Siren,” a 26-page comic story about Pan and her boyfriend Javier’s first date, written by Pandora Zwieback author Steven A. Roman, with art by Eliseu Gouveia (Lorelei: Sects and the City, The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0); “After Hours,” an 8-page tale of the Paniverse by writer Sholly Fisch (Action Comics, Batman: The New Brave and the Bold) and artist Ernie Colon (Amethyst—Princess of Gemworld, Damage Control); and “Shopping Maul,” a Pan short story written by Steve, with title page art by Elizabeth Watasin (Charm School, The Dark Victorian).

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1 has earned a Spotlight Title listing on page 343 of the March 2013 Diamond Previews catalog (currently on sale), and is scheduled to hit stores on May 22, 2013. But right now is the time to order it through your local comic shop!

Don’t know where your local comic book dealer is located? Then visit the Comic Shop Locator and help spread the word!

 

 

Hey, Where’d I Go?

Posted on by

An extremely belated Happy New Year to all you loyal Pan-atics. I apologize for the lack of updates in the last weeks, but I imagine you’d rather have me focusing on getting the second Pan novel, Blood Reign, into your waiting hands than spend time blogging. I’m trying to find a way to balance the two, though, so this site doesn’t fall too far behind in passing along the latest Pan news.

Anyway, what’s been going on since you last heard from me? Well, there was my December appearance on the Veterans Radio show At Ease, hosted by New York Times bestselling author/historian Dwight Jon Zimmerman, where I talked up Blood Feud, Pan’s character background, and how a guy with no military experience was able to write fairly accurate combat scenes (it’s all in the research).

And in January, Diamond Comics Distributors—the U.S.’s premier comic book and pop culture merchandise distributor—accepted StarWarp Concepts’ solicitation for The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1, a 48-page full-color special that goes on sale May 8, 2013. It’ll be listed in the March edition of the Diamond Previews catalog; I’ll let you know when you can pre-order your copy of the annual.

What’s in it, you ask? How about a story of Pan and her boyfriend Javi on their first date by me and artist Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0)? Then there’s a short tale of the Paniverse by writer Sholly Fisch—who’s been providing the backup stories for DC Comics’ Action Comics series (as well as writing the 2012 Action Comics Annual #1)—and comics legend Ernie Colon, co-creator of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld and artist of characters as varied as Magnus, Robot Fighter and Green Lantern to Casper the Friendly Ghost and Richie Rich. And rounding out the contents is an exclusive Pan short story by me involving Pan and her “Fiend Club” friends clashing with Elegant Gothic Lolita vampires at a shopping mall, with title page art by Elizabeth Watasin, indie comics creator of Charm School and the author of the Dark Victorian series of steapunk adventure novels.

And just take a look at this great cover art by Henar Torinos, the Madrid-based artist/creator of the graphic novel series Mala Estrella (Bad Star):

Have you ever seen a better portrayal of Pan as a happy Goth? On the other hand, her best friend, Sheena McCarthy, doesn’t look too happy—but how would you feel if you had a bunch of monsters with skunk breath crowding you in?

Stay tuned for more exciting news!

Pandora Zwieback and the Howling Commandos

Posted on by

Mark your calendars and adjust your Internet radios, ’Warp fans—Saturday, December 29, is the day when I’ll be appearing live on At Ease, the morning program hosted by bestselling author and historian Dwight Jon Zimmerman on the Veterans Radio Network!

The show starts at 9:00 a.m., Eastern Standard Time, and I’m the first scheduled guest. It’s my chance to introduce America’s fighting elite to the adventures of a certain teenaged Goth monster hunter, so let’s hope more than a few veterans listening in will be convinced that the first Pandora Zwieback novel, Blood Feud, is just the book they should be buying for their kids and grandchildren.

Veterans Radio airs every Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern on Ave Marie Radio. 990 AM WDEO, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1440AM WMAX Saginaw, MI and 98.5FM in Naples, Florida. For those of you tuning in via the ’Net, just visit the network’s Programs page and click on the “Listen Live” link.

Radio, Radio

Posted on by

Well, this is different.

Those of you who read my report on this year’s New York Comic Con may remember a visit I had at the StarWarp Concepts booth by Dwight Jon Zimmerman, New York Times bestselling co-author (with political pundit Bill O’Reilly) of Lincoln’s Last Days, a nonfiction examination of the events leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Dwight and I go back a ways; in fact, he was my editor on the X-Men: The Chaos Engine Trilogy novels that I wrote in 2000 and 2002.

Anyway, at the con Dwight and I swapped books, with me giving him a copy of the first Pandora Zwieback novel, Blood Feud. Dwight e-mailed me a few days later to say he’d finished reading it and enjoyed Pan’s story a lot—so much so that he recently contacted me about appearing on his radio show At Ease, which is broadcast on the Veterans Radio network. Of course I said yes!

So on December 29, I’ll be hawking the adventures of a teenaged Goth chick who fights monsters to America’s warriors. Good thing I included a couple of battle scenes in Blood Feud to get their interest, huh?  😉

More details to come as the date gets closer.

 

New York Comic Con 2012: Report From the Battleground

Posted on by

New York Comic Con, held on October 11–14, was just crazy: 116,000 attendees! Cosplayers! Video games! Daleks! Oh, and even the occasional comic book or two.  😀 For all the details, head on over to the StarWarp Concepts blog for a 5-part report on my experiences at the show. It’s loaded with so many pictures you’ll think you’re one of the con-goers!  😉

Thanks to everyone—Pan-atics new and old—who stopped by the StarWarp Concepts booth to chat about my favorite Goth adventuress. There are some big plans in store for Pan in the coming year, and I hope you’ll continue to join in on the fun.

See you at NYCC 2013!

 

Welcome, New York Comic Con Fans!

Posted on by

Thanks for stopping by, and for your interest in Goth adventuress Pandora Zwieback.

If you’re here because you spoke with me at the StarWarp Concepts booth, then go ahead and download the Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0 e-comic that I showed you; just click on the cover you see to the left and save it as a PDF. Not only is it an introduction to Pan and her world, hosted by Pan herself, but it contains two sample chapters from her first novel, Blood Feud. Give it a read.

If you like what you’ve read in the comic, head on over to the first annual StarWarp Concepts Book Festival to purchase a print copy of Blood Feud, for the same price you would have paid at NYCC (plus postage). And the e-book edition—available in Epub, PDF, and .prc (Kindle compatible) formats—is just $1.99, marked down from its regular $3.99 price tag. But hurry—the festival starts today, but the discounts end on Monday, October 15!

Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 is the critically acclaimed story of 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 a shape-shifting monster hunter named Sebastienne 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. But before Annie can explain further, Pan and her parents are drawn into a conflict between warring vampire clans that are 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.

And don’t forget to Like the Pandora Zwieback page on Facebook, so you can keep up-to-date with all the Pan-related news; that link’s also in the sidebar.