Tag Archives: blood feud: the saga of pandora zwieback book 1

13 Days of Pan-demonium: Hey, You Mind? I’m Trying To Read!

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The Pan-demonium continues as we celebrate the publication of my novel BLOOD FEUD: THE SAGA OF PANDORA ZWIEBACK, Book 1, on sale right now from StarWarp Concepts and all fine online bookstores.

Stupid ghost—get your own book! Today’s illustration is a special treat, because it’s by none other than Pan’s co-creator and designer: URIEL CATON!

I first met Uriel back in the early ’90s, through a mutual friend (and comics artist) named Delfin Barral. At the time, I needed an artist for a “bad girl” comic project I was working on, so Del opened up the copy of the Comics Buyer’s Guide that I had with me, and pointed to a full-page ad for a comic titled The Outer Space Babes. The first-issue cover art and interior pencils were by his friend, Uriel Caton.

Holy Moses! Sexy women—in spaaaace? And before that he’d been drawing sexy women for b&w publisher Eternity Comics’ flagship title Ex-Mutants? Now I had to meet the guy! (What? I did say it was the 1990s, didn’t I? It was the decade of the bad-girl comic!)

Not long after, Uriel signed on as co-creator and penciller of the bad-girl project, titled Heartstopper, which introduced readers to Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin, sexy monster hunter and all-around badass. (Now sexy monster hunter and fully clothed mentor to our Goth adventuress.) The comic made its debut in 1994, through Millennium Publications—and quickly died, unfortunately.

(For the story of what ultimately happened with Heartstopper, and how it morphed into The Saga of Pandora Zwieback…well, that’s a blog post for another day.)

After Heartstopper, Uriel went on to do work for other publishers, including DC Comics’ JSA Annual #1. Did you know he’s listed as co-creator of the female assassin Nemesis, along with now-big-time Hollywood screenwriter David Goyer of Blade, Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight fame? It’s true!

These days, Uriel works as the Senior Minimate (2D) Artist for Diamond Select Toys, a division of Diamond Distribution (the folks through which your local comic shop gets its weekly funny-book shipments). But even though a lot of his time is spent designing blocky figures based on movie and comic book licenses, it’s apparent from today’s “Ghostreader” art that he still knows how to draw the cutest girls around.

The “13 Days of Pan-demonium” keep rolling on! Tune in tomorrow for (or hide in fear from) my contribution to this event!

13 Days of Pan-demonium: Enter: Green Pan-tern!

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The 13 Days of Pan-demonium continue…in spaaaace!

Who’ll protect us from the Lovecraftian monsters threatening to destroy the universe? Why none other than the Gothess of Goodness, GREEN PAN-TERN, courtesy of today’s artist: CHRIS MALGRAIN!

No, Pan isn’t an actual superheroine—she just occasionally cosplays one at conventions. But our adventurous Goth heroine is the star of the dark urban-fantasy novel BLOOD FEUD: THE SAGA OF PANDORA ZWIEBACK, Book 1, available from StarWarp Concepts and fine bookstores.

The talented Mr. Malgrain and I were first teamed up in 2004 by publisher ibooks, inc. for a comic book spectacle called Stan Lee’s Alexa #1. Stan was credited with the plot; I wrote the dialogue.

Based loosely on the Stan Lee’s Riftworld series of novels by New York Times bestselling author Bill McCay, the comic introduced readers to Alexa Moran, a comics artist who worked for a Marvel-like company called The Fantasy Factory. Too quiet an idea for something from the mind of Stan the Man, you say? Not when Alexa discovers she has the power to open doorways to other dimensions—and some of those dimensions’ superpowered residents are dropping by to visit Earth!

Yeah. Now it’s a Stan project.  😀

The majority of the art for the first issue had been sitting in a drawer for years before ibooks, inc. decided to pull it out and publish it. I was hired to write new dialogue for the comic (the original script—not by Stan—had been misplaced long before), and Chris was brought in to draw a new prologue—Stan wanted a darker, grittier opening sequence, for some reason.

Unfortunately, Alexa never made it to her second issue—due to the untimely passing of ibooks publisher Byron Preiss in 2005, and the company’s closing soon after—but that hasn’t stopped French publishing house Organic Comix from picking up the reprint rights. That sole first issue is scheduled for publication later this year, with 14 new pages of art and story by Chris and me. It’ll only be available in France, though, so if you know anyone in Europe, ask them to pick up a copy for you.

In addition to Stan Lee’s Alexa, Chris has the science fiction graphic novel The Rovers set for release in November, from Arcana Comics. More info and preview pages at the link.

The 13 Days of Pan-demonium continue! Who’s our next artist? Why, Pan’s co-creator, Uriel Caton! You can’t miss that, can you?

13 Days of Pan-demonium: The Evil Dead-Pan

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Another day, another outbreak of Pan-demonium! Thanks for joining the artistic celebration of the publication of BLOOD FEUD: THE SAGA OF PANDORA ZWIEBACK, Book 1, on sale right now from StarWarp Concepts and all fine online bookstores.

Hail to the king, baby! It’s NEIL VOKES!

If I remember correctly, I was first in contact with Neil in the late ’90s, when I was an associate editor at Byron Preiss Visual Publications, and Neil was the artist for the BPVP comics adaptation of Douglas Adams’s third Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy novel, Life, the Universe, and Everything, published through DC Comics. (You really should track down copies of the miniseries, it’s a fun comic.)

However, I was already aware of Neil’s great comics art, having read his indie comic, Eagle, and by following his work on such horror titles as Blood of Dracula, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, and Fright Night.

(That’s right: we have the former artist of Fright Night, drawing Pan as Ashley Williams from the Evil Dead movies, spotlighted on the day that the remake of Fright Night debuts in theaters. I’m shameless!)

Neil was the first artist I approached for the 13 Days promotion, remembering the amazing four-page b&w sequence he did for the upcoming Lorelei: Sects and the City graphic novel. (It’ll amaze you, too.) And, thankfully, he was happy to contribute!

Neil’s latest project is the graphic novel Flesh & Blood; volume 1 will be out this Halloween from Monsterverse Entertainment. Click here to see the trailer. And if you want to meet the talented Mr. Vokes, look no farther than Artists Alley at this weekend’s Baltimore Comic Con, being held at the Baltimore Convention Center.

The 13 Days of Pan-demonium are far from over! And tomorrow’s entry will have actor Ryan Reynolds fearing for his superhero job!

13 Days of Pan-demonium: A Break From the Action

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Day 8 of The 13 Days of Pan-demonium has arrived, and we’re still celebrating the publication of BLOOD FEUD: THE SAGA OF PANDORA ZWIEBACK, Book 1, on sale right now from StarWarp Concepts and all fine online bookstores.

Hey, look, everybody! It’s our resident Pan artist, ELISEU “ZEU” GOUVEIA!

I Internet-met Zeu through the kindness of a mutual fan, Richard Boom, the Netherlands’ premier good-girl art fan. I was looking to revive my Lorelei comic-book character, and I knew that Richard was well connected with plenty of artists who could draw sexy women. Zeu was at the top of his list, and after seeing his gallery at DeviantArt I knew he was perfect for the job. The results of our collaboration will appear in Lorelei: Sects and the City, a Mature Readers graphic novel from StarWarp Concepts that’ll be on sale soon enough.

(BTW, European comic fans have already had a sneak peek. The first four chapters were serialized under the title “Lorelei: Une Marée de Sang” [A Pool of Blood] in the comic magazine Strange, from French publisher Organic Comix.)

In the midst of his Lorelei work, I approached Zeu with a new project: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0—a comic book giveaway that would introduce readers to Pan’s novel series. He jumped at the chance to draw Pan and Annie, and I was blown away by his art and coloring—and you can be, too. See that “Download Free Comic” link to the right? Go click it and check out Pan in full hype mode. Zeu followed that by agreeing to provide b&w frontispiece illustrations for the novels; you’ll find the first one in Blood Feud. And then I asked him about drawing a 13 Days pinup of Pan in a New York subway car…

But wait, you say, if she’s a budding young monster hunter, then where are the monsters? And who the hell is she playing tongue hockey with?! Well, even Pan needs a day off from all the world saving, and who better to share it with than her new boyfriend, Javier Maldonado.

Don’t know who Javi is? Well, then grab yourself a copy of Blood Feud and experience Pan’s first meeting with the new man in her life. And talk about drama! She’s a New York Mets fan, he’s a Yankees fan, and neither of their fathers is thrilled. Dealing with that conflict might be even more dangerous than facing down monsters!

The 13 Days of Pan-demonium keep rolling along! What’s in store tomorrow? Here’s a hint: “Good? Bad? I’m the girl with the chain saw.”

Hmm…I wonder what that could mean…?  😉

13 Days of Pan-demonium: T(r)oll Bridge

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Week One of The 13 Days of Pan-demonium concludes, yet we’re still celebrating the publication of BLOOD FEUD: THE SAGA OF PANDORA ZWIEBACK, Book 1, on sale right now from StarWarp Concepts and all fine online bookstores.

Now on deck: CAANAN GRALL!

Visitors to the news site Comic Book Resources may recognize Caanan’s style from their ongoing feature “The Line, It Is Drawn,” in which artists take readers’ ideas for pinups and really go to town on them. The one that really grabbed my attention was an X-Babies Christmas drawing he did: the X-Babies all asleep in their beds—except for Lil’ Rogue, who’s staring up in wonder at Santa Claus flying by overhead in his sleigh. It was so charming I thought, Well, I just have to get this guy to do a Pan drawing!

His idea: Pan and Annie try to cross a footbridge, only to have a troll demand payment. My response? Give him a uniform! After all, who’s to say New York’s Bridge and Tunnel Authority wouldn’t hire trolls to collect tolls? They’re experts at it!

Good thing Annie brought her change purse…

Check out Caanan’s webcomic “Max Overacts” at his Occasional Comics site (the link’s above), and keep an eye out for his latest “The Line, It Is Drawn” appearances at Comic Book Resources.

The 13 Days of Pan-demonium continue! Come back tomorrow for the return of Pan comic artist Eliseu “Zeu” Gouveia!

13 Days of Pan-demonium: Chopping Maul

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Day 6 of The 13 Days of Pan-demonium has arrived, and we’re still celebrating the publication of BLOOD FEUD: THE SAGA OF PANDORA ZWIEBACK, Book 1, on sale right now from StarWarp Concepts and all fine online bookstores.

Give a big welcome to ELIZABETH WATASIN!

I first became aware of Elizabeth through her small-press minicomics starring A-Girl, and then followed her full-size comic work in the anthology Action Girl and her own self-published comic, Charm School—think of it as Twilight long before there was a Twilight, only with better writing, romance without being cloyingly overwrought, and interesting characters. 😉

When I was putting together plans for the 13 Days, I started looking around for artists I thought would be a good fit for the project, and remembered Elizabeth. A quick Google search for her site, an exchange of e-mails, and YAY! she agreed to join the party!

The idea of Gothic Lolita vampires mixing it up with Pan and Annie at a mall is all her idea, and made complete sense to me—after all, where else would you find the “vampire fashionistas” mentioned on the cover of Blood Feud? The lame title for the piece, however, is entirely my fault.  😀

Currently, Elizabeth is working on the final draft of her first dark-fantasy novel, Wit’s World: Never Was. You can read the latest serialized chapters at her site (click her name link above), and check out her A-Girl and Charm School comics. You’ll be glad you did.

The 13 Days of Pan-demonium continue! Come back tomorrow to see who our next artistic guest is!

13 Days of Pan-demonium: The Pan-tom of the Opera

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It’s day 5 of The 13 Days of Pan-demonium, in which we’re celebrating the publication of BLOOD FEUD: THE SAGA OF PANDORA ZWIEBACK, Book 1, on sale right now from StarWarp Concepts and all fine online bookstores.

Say hello to artist LOUIS SMALL JR.!

Those of you who follow horror comics and “good girl” art (and combinations of the two) probably remember Louis as the penciller of Harris Comics’ Vampirella comic books during the 1990s, when scantily clad bad girls were all the rage—if a comic back then had Vampirella in the title, odds were good he was drawing it!

I first met Louis at the 1993 Great Eastern Convention in New York, shortly after Harris’ Vampirella #1 (volume 1) had hit comic shops. I was pleased to meet him; he was annoyed that Harris was promoting the artist drawing the story arc after his, instead of the guy currently drawing the series—they didn’t even have copies of Vampirella #1 for sale at the show!

But Harris’ screwup turned out to be a boon for me. Based on the respect I’d shown him at the convention, Louis offered to draw—for free!—the cover to my upcoming Lorelei #0: the first full-size comic starring a succubus character I’d created a few years before. And then he came back to draw the cover for Lorelei #1!

These days Louis is…I guess you could say semiretired from the comics industry, but you can still find him sketching away at conventions and taking on tons of commissions.

And before you ask…”Pan-tom of the Opera”? Yeah, definitely one of my ideas. And that’s probably one of my least lame Pan-related puns!

The 13 Days of Pan-demonium continue! Come back tomorrow to see who our next artistic guest is!

13 Days of Pan-demonium: You Want a Salad With That Stake?

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It’s day 4 of The 13 Days of Pan-demonium, in which we’re celebrating the publication of BLOOD FEUD: THE SAGA OF PANDORA ZWIEBACK, Book 1, [link] on sale right now from StarWarp Concepts and all fine online bookstores.

Today’s artist is DAVE HOOVER!

When I joined DeviantArt a couple years back and started looking around at the kind of amazing stuff posted there, it was Dave’s pinups of Supergirl and Red Sonja that caught my eye, and I added them to my Favourites. There was something familiar about his name, although it took me a little while to figure out where I’d seen it—why, in various comics titles during the ’90s!

Invaders and Captain America for Marvel, GrimJack for First Comics, Starman for DC…fantastic! And now he was drawing Charmed for Zenescope. Great! Hey, how can I get this guy to do a pinup of Pan and Annie for me?

Turns out all I had to do was ask.  😀   And as for the result…well, it’s a real beauty, isn’t it?

And somewhere in the art archives is a convention sketch he did of LORELEI, the succubus character I created who was StarWarp Concepts’ first leading lady—and who’s returning to print shortly in the graphic novel Lorelei: Sects and the City. I came across Dave’s drawing a few weeks ago while straightening up the crypt; maybe I’ll run it as part of the promotion I have in mind for the SWC site when Lori’s book makes its debut.

Hmm…maybe I should talk to him about a new Lorelei pinup…

The 13 Days of Pan-demonium continue! Come back tomorrow and meet an old friend of mine who knows a thing or two about drawing pretty girls himself!

13 Days of Pan-demonium: Alas, Poor Zombies…

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Welcome to day 3 of The 13 Days of Pan-demonium, in which we’re celebrating the publication of BLOOD FEUD: THE SAGA OF PANDORA ZWIEBACK, Book 1, on sale right now from StarWarp Concepts and all fine online bookstores.

Today’s artist is: TERESA CHALLENDER!

Those of you who follow indie comics may recognize the art style in the above illustration, but not the name of the artist herself. That’s because Resa used to go by the name Teri S. Wood, famous for her character-driven science fiction comic Wandering Star. (Ahhh, now you remember her!)

I’ve long been a fan of Resa’s art, and when I stumbled upon her new Web site in my Internet travels I was pleased to see she’s still in the game—only now as one of those big-timey webcomic creators all the kids are digging these days. Fortunately, she was able to find time in her busy schedule to present her unique vision of the dreaded Zombie Apocalypse. (Hey, even ravenous dead guys need time off from constant brain-munching to catch up on their reading!)

Currently Resa’s posting a Wandering Star issue each month on her site (she’s up to #4 of 21), but she’s also working on her long-gestating dark-fantasy project, Darklight. You can check out her latest doings at Resa Fantasy Arts.

The 13 Days of Pan-demonium continue! Come back tomorrow to see who our next artistic guest is!

13 Days of Pan-demonium: Are These Ghouls in Trouble, or What?

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Welcome to day 2 of The 13 Days of Pan-demonium, in which we’re celebrating the publication of BLOOD FEUD: THE SAGA OF PANDORA ZWIEBACK, Book 1, on sale right now from StarWarp Concepts and all fine online bookstores.

Today’s artist is: JIM COON!

I first saw Jim’s work in his self-published comic 8-Ball—and as so often with any artist, he doesn’t like to be reminded of his early efforts. So just walk off the pain, son!  😉

Years later, I had the pleasure of sitting next to Jim at one of the Small Press Expos that are held every year in Maryland. He didn’t do much business at the show (neither did I), but we and my friend Richard C. White (writer of the comic Troubleshooters, Inc., and the Star Trek e-book Echoes of Coventry) had a fairly good time in the depths of misery. 😀

I hadn’t been in much contact with Jim since those SPX days, but when I started formulating plans for the 13 Days promotion, I knew he was one of then artists I had to approach. And I was right! The Gahan Wilson approach he used for this illo is just great.

Who’s next on our list of amazing artists? Find out tomorrow!