Ask Me Anything #13

3

It's the first Monday of the month and time for the 13th edition of "Ask Me Anything." So, if you've ever had something you've wanted to ask me, wondered about an aspect of a particular project of mine, been curious about something I said, or did, what I thought about a particular movie, or pretty much anything at all, now's your opportunity to obtain the answer you've been looking for.  

Head down to the comment section and post your question. I'll either post my answer in the comment section as well, or answer it in a special post all its own sometime later in the month.

Please take the time to view the previous questions so that we don't wind up with a lot of repetition. I've been asked a lot of good, thought provoking questions in the past as well as some really banal ones. all of which I tried to answer. You can see the previous questions by visiting Ask Me Anything  #1, #2 ,  #3, #4, #5, #6 , #7 , #8, #9,  #10  #11 and #12.  Answers not found following the questions can be found in the archives section for each associated month.

Ask Me Anything will not appear in October, but will return on the first Monday of November. 

Now ask away.

STATIC SHOCK - Sneak Peak at the Villains: part 4

Picking up with a look at some of the villains to be featured in Static Shock, which debuts next Wednesday, September 7th, here is a character with a resemblance to a familiar, and extremely popular Batman villain. This is no coincidence. The Pale Man is Joey Piranha's right hand man. He claims that he was once a member of the Joker's gang and accidentally inhaled a non-lethal dose of Joker gas which transformed his appearance and also caused a couple of side effects. The Pale Man is perpetually tense, willfully trying to contain an inner violent rage as well as a Tourette's syndrome like urge to laugh, something that creeps out of him more when he's anxious, or emotionally stimulated, but often punctuates his speech.

Everyone else who works for Piranha is creeped out and afraid of the Pale Man. He's a physical reminder of the darkest corner of the criminal world.

From the Archives 13

Continuing with the lead up to the release of STATIC SHOCK #1 on September 7th, I thought it was time to bring out a look at the cover to Kobalt #7 from December, 1994. Published by Milestone Media, this issue features the first time I wrote the character of Static. This was a done in one story in which Kobalt's bumbling sidekick, Page, sort of teams up with the much more competent, Static to deal with the aggressive, Blowfly. The story was very light, and comedic in tone and played off some of the cliches of the teenage superhero as well as some of the drawbacks of being a hormonally activated teenage boy wearing a skin tight costume. Blowfly wasn't really a villain per se, but a student who had been transformed into a disgusting human fly and was more of a danger because of his condition and less of a threat through ill will.

The art was by Jamal Igle, who has grown tremendously as an artist and become one of today's superstar comic book illustrators.

I'd always wanted to revisit the character of Static, and this story was supposed to generate a sequel about a villain who was disappointed that the future that was promised him was never delivered as we approached the year 2000 and didn't have flying cars, moon bases, or underwater cities. When the kids at Static's and Page's high school decide to put on a production of Hair, the villain snaps and decides to punish the play. With the cancellation of Kobalt and the winding down of Milestone, the story never came to pass.

Again, this was to be comical in nature. The story could never happen now. Not only was it really tuned towards the upcoming millennial change and the traditional notion of the year 2000 always having previously seemed so futuristic, but now with aggressive litigation and rights issues, we'd never be able to use a real, known musical, such as Hair as a central plot element.

STATIC SHOCK - Sneak Peak: Trailer for Issue #1

Scott McDaniel, my collaborator on Static Shock has put together a cool trailer for issue #1 which hits stores September 7th. You can watch it here. If you want to jump into the comic book spoiler free you may want to skip it, or watch it after you've read it.

More Static tomorrow.

STATIC SHOCK - Sneak Peak at the Villains: part 3

As we get closer to the September 7th launch of  STATIC SHOCK #1, here's a sneak peak of another one of the new villains that Static will be facing. Saying anything about Virule invites too many spoilers. I'll just say that he's as lethal as he looks, and that my son thinks there should be an action figure made of him. He makes his debut in Static Shock #1. Did I mention it goes on sale next week?

    

STATIC SHOCK - Sneak Peak at the Villains: part 2

It's just over a week until the launch of the DCnU, and the first issue of STATIC SHOCK by me and Scott McDaniel.

Here's a look at another one of the villains who will be making their debut in Static Shock #1. This one is called Sunspot, and all I'm really going to tell you is that his powers come from a plasma energy suit designed to be used in extreme environments and stolen from S.T.A.R. Labs.

Scott and I have been working hard to build up a rogues gallery of unique villains for Static. I think we have well over a dozen of them put into play before the end of issue #4, so Static will have his work cut out for him.

Check back every day between now and  the September 7th launch for more villains and other surprises.


In the meantime, check out some earlier Static Shock material...

   

The Annotated Xombi

A few days ago I mentioned that I'd been considering something as a way of giving back to all the fans of Xombi for being so supportive of this series, as short lived as it was.

Now that all six issues have been published and everyone has had a chance to read them, I thought about taking some time here to go through some of the comments and questions I've seen posted on various message boards, blogs and websites and address them. Additionally, I thought about going through the series and giving some behind the scenes looks at what inspired some of the material, what references there might be, and some other general process stuff that I think won't take away from the reading experience.

If anyone is interested in seeing something like this, please let me know. If you have any questions, or comments of your own regarding Xombi that you'd like me to address, please leave them in the comments box below. I'm not sure how soon I'd be able to get this up. It depends on my workload. I would like to dedicate enough time to this to make it a worthwhile venture. November is traditionally my lightest month, so most likely it would happen then.

Please spread the word so that people are aware of this.

In the meantime, please also note that a trade paperback collection of  Xombi is scheduled for February. Please order it through your local comic book store or independent bookseller. It's also available at Amazon.com here and at the link below.

Xombi Trade Paperback Forthcoming

As promised, here's a bit of Xombi news. A trade paperback collecting the 6-issue series which just concluded, will be available in early February. So if you're looking for something sturdier than the individual issues, or want to pick up a copy for a friend, you'll be able to.

As always, I recommend supporting your local comic book retailer or independent bookstore, so please order a copy through them. If, like me, local means an hour plus drive, Xombi is available for pre-order from Amazon.com for about $10.00, making it very affordable to spread the love.

If you order through Amazon, please use the link below so I can doubly benefit from your purchase.

Thank you!

STATIC SHOCK - Sneak Peak at the Villains: part 1

As we approach the September 7th release of Static Shock, the new DC comic book series I'm working on along with Scott McDaniel, Jonathan Glapion and LeBeau Underwood as well as editor, Harvey Richards, I thought I'd tease you with an advanced look at some of the villains.


STATIC SHOCK #1 will be out as part of the first wave of new #1s coming from DC Comics in September. The series follows the adventures of sixteen year old, Virgil Hawkins, a brilliant young man with electromagentic powers who could prove to be one of the most powerful characters in the DCnU.

Relocation to New York City from Dakota, where he resided in the 1990s series from Milestone Media that first introduced him, Static will find himself facing all of the challenges that a normal teenager would have in relocating to a new city and a new school, along with some of the difficulties that he must face as a superhero in a new city, such as how the public treats him, how the city officials see him. Most of all, he has new villains to face.

One of the first to oppose him is Joey "Piranha" Scroccone, a low level mobster with an insatiable appetite to rise up the ranks of power in New York's criminal underworld. He discovers a means to rise to the top really quickly and the only obstacle he finds in his path is Static.

Drop by next week for a sneak peak of some of the other new Static Shock villains, as well as some other surprises.

Xombi #6 On Sale Today

Today Xombi #6 goes on sale at a comic book store near you. 

This is the final issue of this short-lived series. "The Ninth Stronghold" was written to conclude with this issue so there won't be any real loose ends, and hopefully you'll find this issue to be a satisfying conclusion.

I'd like to thank everyone who has supported this title; everyone who bought it, stocked it in their store, promoted it, recommended it to others, tweeted about it, blogged about it, reviewed it, interviewed me and gave it media coverage, told me ho much they enjoyed it, and especially those of you who took a chance on a series that was a complete unknown to you going in to it. I hope the experience you've had with Xombi will encourage you to make these leaps of faith on unknown material more often. 

While my available time is too limited to join any online groups, or comment on any discussions, posts, reviews, etc., I have seen a great deal of what people have had to say about Xombi, the questions you've had, and the speculation about motivations, etc. It also pleased me to see that message board discussions were intelligent, polite, and often enthusiastic and not the bitter sniping and complaining of many of the comic book discussion groups I've seen. 

To thank everyone who stuck with the series, and championed it, I'd like to try to do something to give back. If you check back here this coming weekend, I'll relate my plans on what I'm thinking of doing. I'll also have a bit of Xombi news, which you'll probably have found out elsewhere by then. (I'll spare you the anticipation in one regard. It's not to announce a new Xombi series). 

In the meantime, here's DC's solicitation material for issue #6:

Written by JOHN ROZUM; Art and cover by FRAZER IRVING

How is it possible to defeat someone who claims to see every moment of the future and plans for every eventuality? Unless David Kim and Annie Palmer can find an answer to this deadly puzzle, their lives – and the Ninth Stronghold– will be lost forever.

• DC Comics
 
• 32pg.
 
• Color
 
• $2.99 US

On Sale August 24, 2011

Preview Xombi #6

Xombi #6 doesn't go on sale until tomorrow, but you can read the first five pages now for free! Comic Book Resources has an exclusive sneak preview available here.



    

The Grim Gallery Reaches its 100th Post

My companion blog, The Grim Gallery which features a monster a day, has reached its 100th post today. Stop by and see how many of the first 100 monsters you recognize.

My First Comic Books

In the most recent Ask Me Anything, Sean Cloran asked me "Do you remember the first comic book you ever read?"


I honestly don't.  I think I still have almost every comic book I've ever owned, though there hasn't been any real sense of organization since the late 1980s, before I began writing comic books professionally. 


Most likely the first comic book I ever read was a Disney title, or Turok, Son of Stone which was my favorite comic book series as a kid. I'm leaning towards a Disney title since I found this issue amongst my comic books:

This issue of Uncle Scrooge contains copyright dates of 1960 and 1964, which sets it before I was born and it was not something I bought as a back issue, or picked up at a garage sale, which means it probably fell into my hands via some relation or neighbor. 


I was definitely much more of a Dell/Gold Key and Whitman fan than Marvel or DC, and it was actually my interest in monsters and dinosaurs that led me to superheroes. My own comic book buying habit didn't begin in earnest until most likely 1973-1974, when I was about 7 years old since I have a number of comics from that time that I not only remember buying off the rotating rack at a local book store (long gone) but even remember what drew me to them.


I was still reading a bunch of Disney comics like Huey, Dewey and Louie Junior Woodchucks, Uncle Scrooge, Walt Disney's Comics and Stories and stuff like these: 

I was, and still am a big fan of the Disney comics, but these started to fall by the wayside during this period as other comics caught my eye. I continued buying Turok, Son of Stone, the Mighty Samson, and some other Gold Key titles regularly, though at this time it was highly unlikely that you'd be able to find two successive issues of any title, and many titles seemed to only exist in ads within the comics you could find. I started to be drawn to some titles published by Marvel, all of which featured a monster of some sort on the cover. 

At that point if it had anything resembling a horror element on the cover, I was interested, and wound up with pretty complete runs of most of the Marvel horror titles of the period. I'm still pretty fond of all the issues shown above, especially that Worlds Unknown. The "Black Destroyer" story by A.E. Van Vogt in any form remains one of my all time favorites. I'd love to make a movie adaptation some day. 


Even though I was watching the 60s Spider-Man animated series on television (as well as the barely animated shows featuring other Marvel characters) and Batman starring Adam West was my favorite tv series, the comic books that featured them failed to capture my interest until I saw these:

The Marvel Team-Up issue had such a frightening, lurid cover, and Moondog with his skull helmet and knife drew me in and also featured Brother Voodoo who I was already familiar with and Spider-Man who I knew from tv. I remember my parents trying to steer me away from this one onto something that looked gentler, but obviously I won out. 


The Batman issue I picked up because of the spooky, menacing figure of the Shadow. I'd never heard of the Shadow before but he fit my image of what a phantom was supposed to look like, and he was called the Shadow, so he had to be something I'd like, and he was. This comic led me to discovering episodes of the radio show on record and cassette at the library and reprints of the pulp magazine later. It also cemented my love of Batman leading me to pick up the next issue which was really three issues later, but it was the first new one I saw. 

This 100 page issue was like War and Peace to me at that age. It just seemed so thick and so full of content. I haven't seen it in decades, though I keep looking for it. It has origin stories for the giant penny and the robot dinosaur in the Batcave. I still remember the penny story vividly. My favorite bits were these short page or two long stories in the back. One was the various costumes of Catwoman including one with a realistic cat mask which I found to be pretty spooky and stared at quite a bit. The other was a "What if?" bit on what Bruce Wayne would have chosen for his superhero persona if it had been things other than a bat which inspired him to dress up outlandishly and fight crime. There was a suit of knight's armor as well as a scorpion and an owl, two costumes which I found to be far scarier than his Batman outfit. 


Finally from this period, I would discover the comic book series that would rank up there with Turok, Son of Stone as my very favorite, and a series that I bought as regularly as I could find it, and that was:

At the time Planet of the Apes was a phenomenon on a scale that would only be surpassed by the way Star Wars captured the popular imagination. As a kid, it never occurred to me that Kamandi was essentially a thinly disguised ripoff of the movie franchise. All I know is that cover screamed out to me to buy it like no comic book had ever before. I was completely sucked into this world of evolved talking animals who ruled over humans and between Kamandi and Mighty Samson, I discovered a love for post apocalyptic scenarios. 


If there is one comic book property that I could revive, Kamandi would be it. Feel free to barrage DC with letters requesting just that on my behalf. 


I don't think there are any shocking revelations to be found here. Looking at what my interests now and the kind of comic book stories I've been writing, it seems like a pretty straightforward progression.




       

Xombi Concept Art

My Xombi collaborator, the amazing artist Frazer Irving has started up a Tumblr account on which he's showing some of his lesser seen pieces of art including some of his preliminary sketches for Xombi's covers including these for Xombi #3. If you're interested in the creative process then it's definitely worth taking a look. Aside from preliminary sketches and unused art, Frazer also has some posts that show how he goes about creating his gorgeous digital art. Check it out here.

Pee-Wee Herman Art Available for Viewing

All of the art for the "I Know You Art, But What Am I?" Pee-Wee Herman Tribute Show at Gallery 1988 is now available for viewing and for purchase. You can see it on their website here. The "Dogtopus" seen above is one of the four pieces I did for the show.

Ask Me Anything #12

It's the first Monday of the month and time for the 12th edition of "Ask Me Anything." So, if you've ever had something you've wanted to ask me, wondered about an aspect of a particular project of mine, been curious about something I said, or did, now's your opportunity to obtain the answer you've been looking for.  

Head down to the comment section and post your question. I'll either post my answer in the comment section as well, or answer it in a special post all its own sometime later in the month.

Please take the time to view the previous questions so that we don't wind up with a lot of repetition. I've been asked a lot of good, thought provoking questions in the past as well as some really banal ones. all of which I tried to answer. You can see the previous questions by visiting Ask Me Anything  #1, #2 ,  #3, #4, #5, #6 , #7 , #8, #9,  #10 and #11 .  Answers not found following the questions can be found in the archives section for each associated month.

Now ask away.

The Pee-Wee Herman Tribute Show Opens Tonight

For anyone in the Venice, CA/Los Angeles area, "I Know You Art, But What Am I" the Pee-Wee Herman themed show at Gallery 1988 Venice opens tonight. There will be a lot of great art on display. I have several pieces in the show, including this one. Details can be found at the Gallery 1988 website.


   

XOMBI #5 On Sale Today

Featuring my favorite cover of the series, Xombi #5 goes on sale today.

Here's the solicitation information:

Written by JOHN ROZUM; Art and cover by FRAZER IRVING


With the aid of new allies, David Kim and his companions prepare to infiltrate the Ninth Stronghold and attempt to wrest its control from Roland Finch. But Finch has other ideas, and he'll be more than prepared when they arrive!

• DC Comics
 
• 32pg.
 
• Color
 
• $2.99 US

This issue has new revelations, new monsters, and so much more.

You can read the first three pages by going here.


   

This Week at Gallery 1988

Opening Friday at Gallery 1988 Venice this Friday, July 29 and running through August 19, 2011 is "I Know You Art, But What Am I" the Pee-Wee Herman Tribute show. I have several pieces in the show, and am very excited to be a part of it. I only wish I could attend it in person.

If you follow Pee-Wee Herman on Twitter or Facebook then you may have already seen one of my contributions to the show which is already one of my most visited posts on this blog with thousands of viewers over just a couple of days. Thank you, Pee-Wee for the plug! The other pieces will be available for viewing on the Gallery 1988 website within a day or so of the show's opening.

At Gallery 1988 Melrose the current show "Crazy 4 Cult 5" will be closing this coming Saturday, July 30. I have one piece of art in the show based on George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead." This piece has sold. You can view all of the original art or prints from this show at the Gallery 1988 website.

"Crazy 4 Cult" is an annual event at Gallery 1988 and is incredibly popular. A book was also recently published which contains art from the first four shows.



       

Who's Reading Xombi?

 

Smart, Cool, Pretty women read Xombi as evidenced by the photo above (okay the photo only proves she's pretty, but I happen to know she's smart, cool, and has a wicked sense of humor too), and comments left in other posts, as do smart, handsome guys, discerning readers and writers such as Jeff Lemire whose excellent Vertigo comic Sweet Tooth is a series I recommend.

Who else?

In this Newsarama interview with Grant Morrison regarding his new book, Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human and comics in general, he singles out Xombi as one of the titles he's enjoying right now.

So impress a girl, a guy, or a writer and pick up a copy of Xombi today. Issue #5 will be available at a comic book retailer near you THIS Wednesday.


    

In Next Month's RUE MORGUE...

Rue Morgue issue #114, available in August and sporting a cover featuring poster art from the original version of Fright Night, also contains an article by Rue Morgue's "Blood in Four Colors" comic book reviewer, Pedro Cabezuelo on my current series, the critically acclaimed, Xombi.

Rue Morgue is an excellent magazine covering a wide range of horror subject matter from movies both contemporary and classic (to those not so classic), to books, comics, art, music, video games, toys and even places to visit for fans of the genre.

Static Shock #2

Here's the cover (I believe the final image will have different coloring) and solicitation information for Static Shock #2, published by DC Comics,  which goes on sale the first week in October.

Written by SCOTT McDANIEL and JOHN ROZUM; Art by SCOTT McDANIEL and ANDY OWENS; Cover by CHRIS BRUNNER

Static finds himself the target of dark forces as Virule and the Slate Gang unleash their deadly trap! Will Static's debut end before it has even started?

• DC Universe
 
• 32pg.
 
• Color
 
• $2.99 US

On Sale October 5, 2011

Xombi #5 - First Look

Xombi #5 doesn't go on sale until July 27, but kind soul that I am I thought I'd share with you the first page minus any text because it's such a beautiful piece of art by Frazer Irving and because it won't spoil anything for you when you have the whole issue in your hands. Feel free to speculate to your heart's content as to what might be going on here, but I suggest you simply take in how gorgeous the image is. You can click on it to make it bigger and save yourself from eye strain in the process.

Pee-Wee's Playhouse

I was an adult when Pee-Wee's Playhouse aired but it had an enormous influence over me, and actually got me out of bed early on Saturday mornings (or maybe it was also because I had to get ready for work). It remains one of my all time favorite shows, and I'm a huge fan of Pee-Wee Herman, so I was overjoyed to be invited to participate in the "I Know You Art, But What Am I?" Pee-Wee Herman tribute show at Gallery 1988, Venice which opens at the end of the month.

Above is my main piece for the show, a 3-D cut paper collage titled "Why. Ms. Yvonne, I Do Declare That You Have Got the Biggest Hair." Honestly I could have done 100s of pieces for this show, but it's a group show and the Gallery might have banned me from future shows despite my enthusiasm.

I'd planned to be there for opening night, but other events have conspired to keep me away, so should Pee-Wee, or any other cast members appear, I won't be there to show photograph them with me and my art. I really wanted to meet Pterri, too.