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It’s Free Comic Book Day 2021!

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That’s right, comic book fans, today is Free Comic Book Day at brick-and-mortar and online comic shops around the world. In fact, it’s the event’s 20th anniversary!

Usually held the first Saturday in May, this year’s event was bumped to August by Diamond Comics Distribution in recognition of the difficulties placed on the comic market by the global pandemic, in the hope that matters would be a little easier by this point, given the availability of vaccines (which they have, to a certain degree, Delta variant notwithstanding).

And in keeping with FCBD’s fine tradition of gifting comics to fans everywhere, here’s a list of StarWarp Concepts’ offerings that you can download for free directly from us!

Heroines & Heroes: 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 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). If you enjoyed Harley’s recent animated series or her latest movie, The Suicide Squad, you might get a kick out of her matching wits with the Amazon Princess. 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 Pandora Zwieback 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, Lorelei: Sects and the City, Carmilla, A Princess of Mars), and includes two sample chapters from Blood Feud, the first Pan novel.

Hearstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa#1–3: Before she became Pan’s monster-hunting mentor, Sebastienne “Annie” 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 a soul-stealing 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). As a special bonus, issue 3 includes a brief look at the never-published Heartstopper/Trollords, a crossover special that would have had Annie meet Harry, Larry, and Jerry, the Three Stooges–inspired trolls created by Scott Beaderstadt and Paul Fricke for their popular comic series of the 1980s. H/T was to be written by me with pencils by Holly and Scott and inks by Bill Lavin (Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings), but unfortunately it just never got past the starting gate.

(Warning: Heartstopperis designated a “Mature Readers” comic for violent scenes and some sexual innuendo, so younger Panatics should avoid it.)

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

Now get to downloading, and have a happy Free Comic Book Day!

Sebastienne’s Comic Book Past

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On Saturday, May 4, The ’Warp is celebrating the 11th anniversary of Free Comic Book Day by releasing the rarely seen Heartstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa #3, the final issue in what was supposed to be a four-part miniseries published in 1995. The star of Heartstopper was Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin—yes, the very same Annie who’s showing our resident Goth chick, Pandora Zwieback, how to hunt monsters.

To be quite honest about it, I’ve avoided making references to the comic on this blog because Heartstopper is what’s known in the business as a “mature readers” comic, intended for readers seventeen years of age and up. And since the Pandora Zwieback novels have picked up readers as young as twelve, I previously thought linking to a series that middle-graders shouldn’t be reading wouldn’t be the best decision. (I can say that—I’m not just the writer, I’m the publisher.)

It’s also an example of “bad girl” comics, a politically incorrect category that generated huge sales in the nineties; basically, it meant the comic starred an ass-kicking heroine who was clad in as little clothing as you could get away with. Heartstopper was my blatant attempt to cash in on that popularity. 😀  The three issues have no nudity, sex, or adult language (in other words, four-letter curses), but there’s a bit of bloody violence in the first issue and some sexual tension between characters. But I never mentioned them here when HS 1 became available on last year’s Free Comic Book Day, or that HS 2 became a digital freebie this past Halloween.

Still, the comics are a part of Annie’s creative past (issue 1 and part of issue 2 were penciled by Pan and Annie’s co-creator, Uriel Caton), and HS 3 is the final issue. And in a world where young adult books are becoming more and more adult as publishers scramble to create the YA equivalent of the “pron” trilogy 50 Shades of Grey, Heartstopper by comparison is pretty tame in its sexual playfulness (again, no sex or nudity). On the other hand, it’s not the best thing I’ve ever written, but hey—if you survived Twilight you’ll survive this.  😀

To mark the occasion of HS 3’s Free Comic Book Day release, I dug out the following interview, which originally appeared in the December 1994 edition of Capital City Distributions’ catalog, Advance Comics, to promote the publication of Heartstopper #1.

So let’s return now to the 1990s, and the height of comics’ “Bad Girl Era,” to see how 1994 Steve Roman explains his latest project’s history. In the process, you’ll get a little more insight into Annie’s personal history, and discover just where the basic idea for Goth adventuress Pandora Zwieback’s “monstervision” got its start…

Interview: Steve Roman

Steven Roman has been producing the bimonthly series from Starwarp Concepts, Lorelei, since 1993. He now teams with Millennium Publications to bring you the latest bad-but-beautiful-babe comic series, Heartstopper.

Advance Comics: Heartstopper is about a beautiful shape-shifter who fights monsters in New York City. What sparked the idea?

Roman: It all started with Louis Small Jr. He left Harris’ Vampirella and was suffering from withdrawal. He wanted a new supernatural character—preferably a beautiful one. I came up with Sebastienne, but Louis’s schedule became tight, so I brought in Uriel Caton to pencil the book. His art is sharp and fast and fluid and more in tune with what I want to do.

AC: What’s the idea behind Heartstopper?

Roman: Sebastienne Mazarin is a 400-year-old shape-shifter whose mother was an Amazonian high priestess and whose father was a French nobleman. Her mother prepared her for the day when an ancient Brazilian deity will come to Earth and kill all of the women. Part of Sebastienne’s training requires her to spend her nights hunting down monsters and ogres in New York City. For reasons that I won’t explain until later, New York City has become a nexus for the world’s supernatural activity. In the day, Sebastienne is a freelance writer. At night she sort of cleans up the town.

AC: A Brazilian deity?

Roman: In Brazilian mythology, there’s a spirit called Jurupari who hates all women.

AC: Can everyone see the New York demons?

Roman: You can’t write and not be influenced by a thousand sources. Heartstopper owes a debt to Nancy A. Collins and her vampire novel, Sunglasses After Dark. It inspired me to create a world where normal people don’t see the darker universe around them. My take on it is that the people in New York can see these monsters—but they’re New Yorkers, and they don’t care. They see weird things all the time. To them, an ogre in Central Park is normal.

AC: The pencils and inks look terrific. Who is the art team?

Roman: Uriel Caton has been working in the industry for several years. He has penciled the Ex-Mutants for Eternity Comics, The Outer Space Babes for Silhouette Studios, and a Cain special for Harris. Alan Larsen, the inker, started in the 1980s boom as the publisher of Belladonna, a book about a 17th-century witch. He has done work for Alpha Productions for their Totem, Sign of the Wardog Annual.

AC: Fans have already gotten a sneak peek at Heartstopper, haven’t they?

Roman: Four pages of the original version by Louis Small Jr. recently appeared in Nightcry. It was supposed to be a preview for a book to be published by Cry For Dawn. That didn’t happen. A few of Uriel’s concept sketches appeared in issue #2 of Lorelei. That got lots of favorable responses from readers and retailers who think Heartstopper is in the same league as Lady Death, Shi, and Vampirella. Another sneak peek will appear in Lorelei #5.

AC: You’re both a writer and publisher?

Roman: In addition to writing Heartstopper for Millennium, I publish Lorelei under the Starwarp Concepts label. I started as a small-press writer and artist and self-published a digest version of Lorelei in 1989. In 1993 I started publishing Lorelei as a regular comic book.

AC: Who will read Heartstopper?

Roman: It’s aimed at fans of Lady Death, Shi, and Vampirella, with a little bit of Image thrown in. Sebastienne is a very loose, fun-loving character. She cracks jokes in a fight. She’s very nonchalant about taking on a group of monsters in Times Square. And because she’s a shape-shifter, she has incredible powers. She can mold her body into anything, which makes for some wild art! Heartstopper has a serious side, but for the most part it’s meant to be a fun read. Sebastienne is a very strong character, very self-assured—and a bit naughty. You’ll love her.

*       *       *

Heartstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa #3—written by Steven A. Roman (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback), penciled by Holly Golightly (School Bites) and inked by “Chainsaw” Chuck Majewski (Harvey Kurtzman’s New Two-Fisted Tales)—is available for free download on May 4, 2013 from the StarWarp Concepts web site.

Heartstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa #1 and #2 are also available for free download—just follow the links at StarWarp Concepts’ comics page.

However, if you’re one of those under-seventeen readers of Pan’s adventures…maybe you should wait a few years before checking out Annie during her “bad girl” phase.  😉

 

Talking to Myself (Part 2)

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Continuing a previously unprinted interview that I did for another Web site. (Part 1 ran yesterday.)

What was your big break?

As much as I hate this kind of thing, it really was a case of “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”

In the late nineties I was an editor for a publisher/book packager named Byron Preiss, who had a license from Marvel Comics to publish original novels based on their characters. Having edited some of the books, and written short stories for a couple of anthologies (Untold Tales of Spider-Man and The Ultimate Hulk), I was offered the chance to take over a YA novel titled Spider-Man Super Thriller: Warrior’s Revenge—Marvel had rejected the manuscript delivered by a mystery and fantasy writer named Neal Barrett Jr. Basically, I was in Byron’s office when news of the rejection came in and he turned to me and said, “So, you want to write it?” Of course I said yes!

The only problem was, the cover for the book had already been printed for advance sales purposes, so I wound up ghostwriting the book for Neal, who was amazingly gracious about the whole thing.

So, if you ever come across a copy of Warrior’s Revenge, just remember: it might have Neal’s name on it, but it’s actually my first novel!

A couple of years later, a similar situation happened: two established writers were supposed to do an original X-Men novel trilogy, except Marvel rejected their proposal. And again Byron asked if I’d be interested in taking it over. Well, who was I to say no?

The result was X-Men: The Chaos Engine Trilogy, in which the X-Men fight their archenemy Magneto, Doctor Doom (from the Fantastic Four), and the Red Skull (from Captain America) for control of the Cosmic Cube, a device that allows them to alter reality. All three books sold really well—helped in no small part by the fact that Book 1, X-Men/Dr. Doom, came out in time for the first X-movie. I think that’s when people really started to recognize my byline.

What authors have influenced you the most?

Well, Stephen King is probably my biggest influence. There’s comics guru Stan Lee (with whom I got to collaborate on a comics project!) and H. P. Lovecraft—an early twentieth century pulp-magazine horror writer who influenced guys like King. And there are some others who’ve influenced me: comic writer Alan Moore, mystery writer Robert B. Parker, Harlan Ellison, and Ray Bradbury. (I’m sure there’s somebody I’ve forgotten.)

The trick, though, is finding a way to blend all those influences into something that eventually becomes your own, unique writing style.

What are some of your hobbies?

I used to be a major comic book fan, but over the years I got tired with all the superhero stuff—which is kinda funny, considering my professional writing career started with me writing short stories and novels about Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Incredible Hulk. Now I just spend all my money on Doctor Who merchandise! I’ve been a Who fan—Whovian?—since high school. I even got to write a story for an official Doctor Who anthology!

What’s your favorite movie?

When I was a teen it was the original, un-messed-with Star Wars. (The one where Han shot first.) Somewhere along the way it became The Blues Brothers. Must’ve been all that great blues music—well, that and the insane car stunts…

If your book, Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1, was turned into a movie, who would you like to play the main characters?

At conventions I often describe the Pandora Zwieback series to folks as “Ellen Page and Salma Hayek in a Hellboy movie.” They’re a little too old at this point to play Pan and Annie, but when I was trying to land the series with a publisher back in 2005/6, I thought they’d be perfect.

For me, Salma Hayek had been Sebastienne Mazarin since 1995, when her big-screen debut in Desperado coincided with Annie starring in the Heartstopper comic series I was writing. And when Ellen Page was running around in X-Men: The Last Stand, dressed in leather and calling Vinnie Jones’s Juggernaut character a dickhead, I thought, That’s Pan!

Oh, and Bruce Campbell for Pan’s dad!

Tomorrow: Advice for writers, and suggested reading. Be here for the thrilling conclusion!  😉

The Secret Origin of Sebastienne Mazarin (Part 1)

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Back on August 24th you were introduced to Pandora Zwieback 1.0—the original, non-Goth version of Pan that I created for an unfinished screenplay in 1984. But how about her mentor, Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin, 400-year-old shape-shifter and professional monster hunter—where did she come from?

Would you believe from comic books? Yes, indeedy.

The project began in 1993, with a comment made to me by artist Louis Small Jr., who at the time was being heaped with praise for his work on Harris Comics’ new Vampirella series (recently reprinted in Dynamite Entertainment’s Vampirella: Masters Series, Vol. 5). Although comic fans loved his art, he wasn’t feeling much of that love from his bosses at Harris—in fact, they’d already started promoting the artist scheduled for the next story arc! Understandably annoyed, Louis wished he could create his own Vampirella-type character, to show Harris what they were missing out on by ignoring him.

A few days later, I presented him with Heartstopper, a proposed series about a shape-shifting monster hunter named Sebastienne Mazarin: half French, half Brazilian, all badass.

As I explained to Louis, having Annie as a shape-shifter instead of a vampire would deflect any negative comments about how he was just trying to rip off Vampirella by drawing another female bloodsucker. And making Annie a Latina would help her stand out from the multitudes of white superhero women that dominated the market. Louis agreed, and got to work sketching.

The first thing you probably noticed is Annie’s wearing a lot less than today’s version. Such was the state of the industry in the 1990s—a decade when having a half-naked female character in your comic practically guaranteed it would get published. And sell phenomenally well. It’s a period now known as “the bad girl era.”

(Bad-girl comics—for those of you unfamiliar with the term—starred heroines who possessed a lot of attitude but very little clothing; a bikini and thigh-high boots with stiletto heels were the basic uniform. Vampirella, Catwoman, Lady Death, Shi, Flare, Witchblade—the list was endless. And the one thing they had in common was that they sold insane amounts of copies—because fanboys DO luv their scantily clad fantasy women…)

True to form, the bad-girl approach worked. Louis and I had gotten a bit chummy with Joseph Monks, co-creator (along with artist Joseph Linsner) and former writer/publisher of the horror comic Cry For Dawn. After a creative-differences split with Linsner, Monks planned to continue publishing and was looking for projects. When I pitched Heartstopper he said it was definitely something that would make for a good series, and wanted it to be one of CFD Productions’ new titles. (I’m pretty sure it was Louis’s sketches that sold him.)

First, though, he wanted to tease the series in the first issue of his anthology series NightCry.

That sounded like a good plan, so Louis and I got started. I wrote the first-issue script, and Louis…ran into scheduling problems. Apparently those Vampirella issues he drew proved to be more popular than expected, and now he was being flooded with art commissions and offers to draw comics for other, larger publishers. And when you’re a freelance artist trying to make a living from drawing comic books, you’ve gotta go where the money is. (Being a freelancer myself these days, I understand that logic all too well.) It was easy to see that Louis would never have the time to focus on Heartstopper.

That didn’t stop him from trying, though. He managed to complete eight penciled pages as the deadline for NightCry #1’s trip to the printer drew ever closer. Then Monks—realizing he had room for only four of those pages (one of the other stories ran long)—handed them off to an inker to make that deadline, rather than give Louis time to ink them himself.

The problem was, the new guy was a rookie inker. Never been published. Never really inked anybody before, either. The results were…pretty ugly.

In the end, between the bad art job and Louis being unavailable to work on the series, it was decided that Heartstopper was not going to be one of CFD’s new titles. In retrospect that was just as well—the company folded two years later—but I was still disappointed.

But, I thought, maybe if I can find another artist who’s as good with the bad-girl stuff as Louis is, I can try and place the series with another publisher.

And that was when an equally talented artist named Uriel Caton entered the picture…

Before You Ask…

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Yes, I know about the Canadian dark-fantasy TV series Lost Girl, soon to debut on the SyFy Channel. Thanks for bringing it up.  😉

Actually, I didn’t know about it until earlier this year, when Eliseu “Zeu” Gouveia, artist of the Pan e-comic, made me aware of the show’s existence (apparently it’s already aired in Portugal). To quote the show’s Web site:

“Lost Girl follows supernatural seductress Bo, a Succubus who feeds on the sexual energy of humans…. With the help of her human sidekick, Kenzi, and Dyson, a sexy police detective, Bo takes on a challenge every week helping a Fae or human client who comes to her to solve a mystery, or to right a wrong.”

Huh. Sounds like what you might get if you teamed Pan with Lorelei, the succubus character I created back in 1988—and who’s starring in StarWarp Concepts’ soon-to-be-published Mature Readers graphic novel Lorelei: Sects and the City (also drawn by Zeu)—instead of Pan’s shape-shifting mentor, Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin.

(BTW, Annie and Pan were copyrighted in 1994 and 1998, respectively, in case you’re wondering. Although Pan’s history goes much further back than that…)

Odds are good I won’t watch the series—sorry, the only genre TV I pay attention to these days is Doctor Who—so all I can say is, good luck to Lost Girl. Considering how lame most of the shows on the SyFy Channel are, you’re gonna need it.  😀

Now where’s my Pandora Zwieback TV series…?

Welcome, Boils and Ghouls, Fiends and Nayboars!

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Hey, there! Welcome to the Interwebs home of fictional full-time horror fangirl and part-time monster hunter Pandora Zwieback.

I’m author Steve Roman, and THE SAGA OF PANDORA ZWIEBACK is my first attempt at a dark-urban-fantasy book series. This isn’t my first time writing, however—if you check out the author section you’ll get all the background on my novel, short story, and comic book writing credits. (X-Men, Final Destination, zombies, succubi—I’m a reg’lar idea factory!)

 

 

As for the star of this book series…

Pandora Zwieback is a 16-year-old Goth who’s just discovered the world is brimming over with monsters, and a lot of them are fixed on either ruling humanity… or eating it! But with the help of an immortal, shape-shifting monster hunter named Sebastienne Mazarin—Annie, to her friends—Pan will learn how to stop them…hopefully. That’s the idea, at least…

(FYI, it’s pronounced ZWY-back, not “zwee-back.” Yes, both pronunciations are correct, but I prefer the long-I sound. In fact, at last year’s New York Comic Con I met two women with that very name—and that’s how they pronounce it, too.)

Pan’s story kicks off with BLOOD FEUD: THE SAGA OF PANDORA ZWIEBACK, Book 1, in which competing vampire clans seek the key to unleashing hell on earth—and the only people who can stop them are a teen Goth and her monster-hunting mentor. (And trust me, not one of these vampires is of the sparkly variety!) Click on the Blood Feud book cover at the top of the sidebar for more information.

The print edition of BLOOD FEUD will be available through the Starwarp Concepts webstore, as well as online stores Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, WH Smith in the UK, and Angus & Robertson in Australia, among others. And I (and everyone at Starwarp Concepts) would certainly appreciate it if you helped spread the word and got your local indie bookstore to order it, too.

And don’t worry, e-readers! There are PDF, Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and iPad editions in the works, as well. I’ll keep you updated as each version becomes available.

But that’s not all the good news! To whet your appetite for my Goth girl’s weirdsome tales, check out the online schwag:

• The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0! It’s a full-color e-comic—with sample chapters from Blood Feud—in which Pan herself gives you the lowdown on her book series. Story by me, art and color by Eliseu “Zeu” Gouveia, the extremely talented artist of such comics as The Phantom and Infiniteens. You’ll find the comic link in the sidebar.

• Downloads! Give your computer the fiendish makeover it’s always wanted with action-packed wallpapers of Pan and Annie, and print out your very own copy of the Pan bookmark that I hand out at conventions. Just visit the Downloads page to get started, and you’re sure to become the envy of every ghoul in the nayboarhood!

• A Blood Feud trailer! Animated by Web designer extraordinaire Dave De Mond, using Zeu’s artwork from the Pan e-comic, it’s a fun little intro to Pan’s world.

And starting next week, we’ll be unleashing The 13 Days of Pan-demonium! It’s an artistic celebration of Blood Feud’s release in which thirteen artists present their unique interpretations of our resident Goth girl, with a new piece of art posted each day on this blog. More news on that in the next blog post!

That’s all for now. Thanks for stopping by, and…pleasant screams!