XOMBI Listed Among Best Comics of 2011

As 2011 comes to a finish, I was happy to see that Xombi made many lists compiling the year's best comics. The trade paperback collecting the series will be available in early February and can be pre-ordered at a comic book store or independent book store near you, or, if you must, through Amazon. There is a link below.

To coincide with the release of the trade paperback I will be running a bit of an issue by issue annotated commentary here as I promised last Fall. Keep checking back for details.

The above artwork of Xombi's David Kim among some stellar company is by Craig at Craig's Comic Land.

Ornaments On Our Tree

I've been busy juggling work and preparing for the holidays, so I've not had a chance to bring you any of the meatier posts I'd been planning. So for now, I present some holiday oriented eye candy with these views of some of the ornaments decorating our tree. 

Marvel Monsters in the Morning

At 7:00 am EST Cartoon Network is rebroadcasting "This Man-Thing...This Monster"  one of the episodes of Super Hero Squad that I wrote. The episode features a large number of the monster characters from Marvel Comics, such as Werewolf By Night, Dracula, the Living Mummy, and Man-Thing as well as a few cool surprises.

If you're up that early check it out. Watch it with your kids.

Hellraiser Masterpieces #3 Now Available

I forgot to mention this, but Hellraiser Masterpieces #3, published by Boom! Studios was released last Wednesday. A companion to the current ongoing Hellraiser series, also published by Boom!, Hellraiser Masterpieces reprints stories from the Hellraiser series published in the late 1980s -- early 1990s by Marvel's Epic imprint. Three of my earliest comic book stories were written for this run, and all three have been collected in the current issue. This is the first time any of them have been reprinted and also the first time that they appear together under one cover. You can see the table of contents below if you're curious about the line-up and the excellent artists I was paired with.

Comic Book Resources has a preview of this issue which you can see here which shows several pages from the "Homecoming" story. While I loved Mark Texeira's art for this story, the story itself was heavily altered by editorial and became something more obvious and also gentler and with a just desserts type ending that was contrary to the harsh, more pessimistic ending that I wrote. The other two stories I was rather fond of.  I haven't seen either in ages, and wonder how they hold up today. 

Clive Barker's Hellraiser universe was one I really enjoyed getting to play in and would love to return to.  I also wrote an origin story to the Lemarchand puzzle boxes which appeared as an issue of Clive Barker's Book of the Damned which I'd always wanted to expand upon, and two other Hellraiser stories which were completed but for which artwork was never commissioned since the Marvel series came to an end. 

Hellraiser Masterpieces #3 is available at a Comic Book store near you, or can be ordered by your local comic book shop. 

MAD SCIENTIST #24 Available for Pre-Order

Issue #24 of Mad Scientist magazine is available for pre-order via their website. This an excellent magazine for fans of classic horror, fantasy, science fiction, dinosaurs and comic books and is only $5.00 per issue. The new issue includes a piece of artwork and a short article by me as well as a lot of other great stuff.

Ask Me Anything #15

It's time once again for "Ask Me Anything." This feature runs on the first Monday of every month and gives you the opportunity to ask me anything you might be wondering about me, my work, or anything at all.  This month I'll also be responding to a couple of questions from previous editions of "Ask me Anything" that I've been remiss in answering, and had intended to get to last month before my work schedule got the best of me. 

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,  #12 , #13 and #14.  Answers not found following the questions can be found in the archives section for each associated month.

Now ask away.

I Bring You Holiday Cheer

Do you still need a special ornament for your tree? Is it lacking something such as a Frankenstein monster head, a grinning cat, robot or a squid? If so, visit my friend, Tom Taggart's etsy shop and look at his selection of hand crafted ornaments. Each is about the size of an apple, or baseball and are light weight so your tree's branches won't sag when you hang them up. I have a number of these on my own tree and they look great right along the more typical Christmas trimmings. Tell him I sent you.

If you still need to select holiday cards to mail out, check out Cara Scissoria for a wide selection of pun-filled, humorous, and often political cards. Tell her I sent you, too.

Now that you've got your cards, and your tree take care of, you'll probably need something to put under it.  For the animation fan on your list, might I suggest a one of a kind  original cut paper collage portrait of some of their favorite characters? It just so happens that I have a number of these in stock. They're affordable and can be found here.

While the trade paperback collection of Xombi won't be available until February, young superhero and comic book fans might appreciate some of these other items I had a hand in.

Kids interested in action, adventure and strange creatures might like Cartoon Network: Ben 10 Alien Force/The Secret Saturdays (2-in-1) book which collects most of The Secret Saturdays comic books I wrote along with a bunch of Ben 10 stories as a bonus.

The Super Hero Squad is a television series aimed at younger kids and features the super heroes from Marvel Comics such as Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Wolverine and others in a wide range of super hero action adventures with quite a bit of humor thrown into the mix. Volume 2 and Volume 3 of the DVD compilations of the series each have an episode I wrote.



    

Cut Paper Collage Animation Art For Sale

Are you looking for something unique to get the animation fan on your holiday shopping list?

Are animation cells outside your budget, or too hard to find?

Might I suggest an affordable answer to both questions. I am selling a large number of cut paper collage portraits of various classic animation characters such as Fred Flintstone, Bugs Bunny, Yogi Bear, and many others. Each is an original, one of a kind piece of art, hand crafted from cut paper, and each is extremely affordable with many in the $30-$50 range.

Dozens of characters are still available. Check here for details on which characters are available as well as all pricing and shipping information.

If you don't see a character you're looking for, please ask. I accept commissions, and there is still time to have one done in time for the holidays.

Xombi available for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Android and on the Web

If you're traveling this weekend, or anytime over the holidays, Xombi, the widely acclaimed series that I wrote with Frazer Irving handling the art,  is now available for digital download at only $1.99 an issue. You can download all six issues here.

For those of you who prefer to read your books as books, the trade paperback edition will be available at the beginning of February. You can order it through your local independent bookstore or comicbook store, or pre-order it through Amazon via the link below.

The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra

Be sure to stop by Doo Wacka Doodles for the current tribute to the modern film classic The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, where a variety of artists present their interpretations of characters and situations from the movie and it's sequel The Lost Skeleton Returns Again.

I was honored to be asked to join in the fun and the three pieces I did are now on display.



  

The Grim Gallery

Don't forget to visit The Grim Gallery. There are new monsters on exhibit there every day.

In Case You Missed It...

There's an interview with me over at the Strange Kids Club that may be of interest to you. I posted a link to it during my Halloween Countdown last month, but it could easily have been missed among my 9 zillion other posts during October. Here's a link.

Tomorrow on Cartoon Network

For those of you with super hero loving children, or who need something to watch while eating your corn flakes, Cartoon Network will be rebroadcasting my second episode of Super Hero Squad - "Stranger From a Savage Land" tomorrow morning at 7:00 am EST. A quest to rescue his sabretooth tiger, Zabu leads Ka-Zar and Captain America into battle against Dr. Doom.

This episode is also available on DVD at the link below.

Ask Me Anything #14

After taking a month off in order to make room for the annual Halloween Countdown, "Ask Me Anything" returns. This feature runs on the first Monday of every month and gives you the opportunity to ask me anything you might be wondering.  Whether it's a burning question about one of my projects, something I've said, or did, or even if you're just wondering what books I'm reading now, this is your opportunity to ask.  This month I'll also be responding to a couple of questions from previous editions of "Ask me Anything" that I've been remiss in answering. 

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,  #12 and #13.  Answers not found following the questions can be found in the archives section for each associated month.

Now ask away.

Obey Me!

Belle Dee, one of my very favorite artists is hosting a special event over at her blog, Doo Wacka Doodles. Currently underway is her tribute to the cinema classic, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. Now, through November 19th, Belle will be hosting a variety of fine artists who will be revealing artwork paying tribute to the movie with more quotable lines than any other. Along with the fine artists, I'll also be contributing a couple of pieces which I'm working hard to finish.

If you haven't seen The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, what are you waiting for?


  

Bill Murray at Gallery 1988

Please Post Bills, the Bill Murray Tribute show at Gallery 1988 has me listed as one of the artists participating. I had originally planned to take part in the show, but my schedule did not allow for it. There are a lot of great artists taking part. You can check out the show here.

Hellraiser Masterpieces

I just found out about this, so I don't know all of the deatils. Boom! Studios, which publishes the current ongoing Hellraiser comic book series, is also reprinting some of the stories published under Marvel Comics' Epic imprint in the late 1980s. These reprinted stories are being published under the title Clive Barker's Hellraiser Masterpieces.

Issue #3 of Clive Barker's Hellraiser Masterpieces collects for the first time in one issue the three stories I wrote for the Epic Hellraiser series back at the beginning of my career. The stories are "Homecoming" with art by Mark Texeira, "With My Lips" with art by Rod Whigham, and "Taste the Darkness" with artwork by Bo Hampton.

"Homecoming" was changed editorially into something far too gentle for the Hellraiser universe, and into something disappointingly unrecognizable from the script I turned in, so I don't really consider it something I wrote, but I'm still pretty pleased with the other too stories. I really dug getting to play with Clive Barker's creations and had even written a tie in comic detailing the origins of the lament configurations (the deadly puzzle boxes) and further three stories which never saw print because the series was cancelled before they could be run. I'd love to be able to return to Hellraiser some day.

Here's the solicitation information taken from the Boom! Studios website. No release date is given, but since it's available for pre-order, I'm guessing it will be available in December, or January. Ask at your local comic book shop if you are going to preorder from them. They might have an answer.


Hellraiser Masterpieces #03
Availability: Not yet released.
$3.99
Writer(s): Clive Barker, Christopher Monfette
Artist(s): Leonardo Manco
Straight from Hell, it’s another dose of classic Hellraiser horror ripped from the pages of Marvel Comics’ Hellraiser series — shipping twice this month! Re-presenting, in the mode of DR. WHO CLASSICS, never-before-reprinted tales from some of comicdom's premiere talents! This issues is three stories of grotesquery and high strangeness from John Rozum (XOMBI), featuring the art of Mark Texeria (GHOST RIDER) and Bo Hampton (BATMAN)! No other comic features these kind of sleek and intelligent horror stories told in the Hellraiser tradition!
Diamond Code: OCT110914

31 Days of Halloween - Day 31 - Finale

I hadn't planned to do any decorating outside the house this year. Last Spring we moved to a new neighborhood that was rumored to be pretty empty of trick or treaters. The three houses to the left of us are empty except during the Summer months, and we are on a cul de sac with no through traffic and invisible from the road we turn off from do to a wooded area surrounding a vernal pool in the middle of our circle. On top of that our whole neighborhood is in a geological depression, so we're really out of view to anyone passing by.

At the last minute though (almost literally since I hadn't really decided on this until almost noon today) I decided that I couldn't stand the idea of not putting anything out in the yard, even if it was for only one trick or treater. If I was able to transform Halloween night into something magical for one kid, then it needed to be done. They sure weren't going to get it at any of the other houses.

So I quickly dug through what I had tucked away from Halloween's past and threw something together quickly in just a couple of hours, but tried to use the sight lines leading to our house to draw any trick or treaters up to our front door. This is what things looked like before it turned dark.

Looking up from the foot of our long driveway (I am so not looking forward to shoveling this this Winter). Jars containing votives line both sides of the driveway creating a visible path leading upwards towards the house. Just before our mailbox is the first Jack O'Lantern. Just beyond it are the first tiki torches with bright columns of fire drawing attention to them. There are more visible beyond them.

The first Jack O'Lantern with our name and address on it was my wife's idea as a way to help the mother of one of my daughter's friends find our house when she came to pick up her daughter. It didn't work. She still got lost.

The first tiki torches come as a pair. Normally, i would have positioned them at the base of the driveway, but one side is lined with bamboo, and I worried about starting a fire. You can see more tiki torches in the background. Some of the skulls have eyes that light up.

Here's three more seen on the woods side of the driveway. This side of the driveway has a lot of potential for future Halloween projects.

Looking towards the house from the last tiki torch on the house side of the driveway reveals the figure of Nosferatu standing on the deck watch as the trick or treaters pass by.

Here's Nosferatu illuminated in red. You can't see it but his eyes glow also.

Moving around the side of the house, the votive jars lead to the first headstones, though the ones this far out will be barely discernible in the dark. There's a window above the tree branches on the left side which has an element of visual interest which I'll show later in this post. You can also see the first view of one of the yard ghosts and can start hearing the sound effects that are playing from the graveyard.

As you come around the corner you see the first yard ghost which is recycled from last year.

You can now see the second yard ghost beyond her; the beheaded bride. All of the support structures that are visible in these photos are invisible at night.

Here's a closer view of this ghost. She needs a little repair work, but I didn't have enough time today to take care of it. She looks much better in the dark, and none of the tape visible here can be seen in the dark.

Moving along as you come towards the walkway from the driveway to the front door (which oddly is in the back of the house, or the side facing away from the street). None of the other ghosts from the past couple of Halloweens were used this year. Some were just too beat up, and I didn't have time to try and fix them.

Now we're at the base of the walk with a better view of the beheaded bride.

My son's freaky Jack O'Lantern rests beneath the decorative grass at the end of the walkway which can be seen in the previous photo.

Looking up the walkway towards the front door. If I'd planned ahead, I would have put a lot more stuff on the sides of the porch flanking the door.

One of the remaining Jack O'Lanterns.

And the other, created by my daughter.

At night things look quite a bit different.

The view looking back towards the street.

Above is the element I mentioned that was positioned in an upper window on the side of the house. It's really hard to photograph, but this skull sticks to the window via two suction cups in the eye sockets and its jaw opens and closes. I found this at Walt Disney World last February and bought it because it reminded me of the Scooby-Doo villain the Space Kook. If I can figure out how to make the clear dome helmet, I'll make the whole costume some year.

Here's another bad photograph of the light up animated skull.

The whole thing took me less than three hours to put up, including time it took me to find stuff that hadn't been unpacked from our move and to run out to buy tiki torch fuel.

So, how many trick or treaters did we get? Excluding my kids and my daughter's friend; four. One was a little girl from a few houses down who said it was two scary for her. The other three were 6th and 7th graders who thought it was really cool.

That in a nutshell was Halloween at my house. I hope everyone reading this had a great Halloween. Thanks for dropping by.