Sneak Peek: NIGHT FOLK

In the midst of the announcement at the Gallifrey One convention this weekend that I'll be returning as the artist of two upcoming story arcs in IDW's Doctor Who comic, I'm also getting ready to launch my Kickstarter campaign for the NIGHT FOLK novel. We've decided to set the launch date for March 1st, my 40th birthday. Here's a quick sneak peek at the logo treatment we worked up.



Lots to do between now and the launch of the Kickstarter project page, including starting in on the first issue of my new run on WHO, but I'll try and post updates as we get closer.

Random Announcements

Well, still pretty crazy here and getting crazier all the time, hence the lack of posting. But there are a few random announcements I really need to make --

First off, for various work and personal reasons, I've had to back out of this year's Gallifrey One convention in Los Angeles. I can't even begin to express my disappointment at not being able to attend, especially since there might be an announcement or two I really wanted to be there for. My apologies to everyone involved in setting up the show, and to the fans.

Secondly, to help me deal with the genuinely crushing disappointment of canceling my trip to Gally, I'm going to do a little bit of a pre-announcement on a new project. As I mentioned in my last post, I'm setting up a Kickstarter page to raise money for a personal project, and after a lot of deliberation, I've decided to use the opportunity to help jumpstart the writing side of my career. So in about a month, I'll be announcing a Kickstarter auction for an Intermediate Reader prose novel based on the Night Folk idea I posted a while back.

(And for those of you paying close attention, this means the possible project list for my Third Act graphic novel just got a LOT shorter. Stay tuned for more news on that soon.)

I'll be raising money to help buy some time away from the art table to write the Night Folk novel and draw some interior illustrations for it (so, yeah... not entirely away from the art table). The final result will be published digitally through my Skeleton Tree Media imprint for both the Kindle and Apple's iBooks app.

For the last 6 or 7 years, I've been working hard to develop my writing skills, looking for a new ways to tell the stories I've been developing since my early days writing and drawing comics for Caliber, and the Night Folk project is the first major step towards that. It's also the first piece of a much larger story that includes both my Fade stories (and the in progress Fade novel) and the other Third Act graphic novel project, The October Girl.

I'll be posting more details about Night Folk as we get closer to the launch of the Kickstarter campaign, and I'll let you know when the project page goes live. In the meantime, I hope to be back to regular blogging in the next week or so.

Random bits: Witchblade #142 and Kickstarter

Another crazy week here in the studio. Between snowstorms, digging out from beneath snowstorms, new snowstorms, and working on my second issue of Witchblade, things are a little busy.

Two bits of random business --

First and foremost, issue #142, my first fill-in issue on Witchblade hits shelves this week. It's the first part of a two part story by series writer Ron Marz and myself, with excellent colors by Nathan Fairbairn. Check it out if you get a chance. I've been having a lot of fun working with Ron again (we'd previously worked together on The Path for Crossgen), and it's a fun little ghost story with a some interesting twists.

Secondly, I'm setting up a Kickstarter campaign for a writing project I'm hoping to work on after my next art assignment (which I can't name just yet). This is all part of my larger "Third Act" project which I'm hoping will create more opportunities to write and to work on my own creator-owned material. I'll keep you posted here, on Twitter, and on my Facebook fan page. As of yesterday, the project was approved by Kickstarter and I can start putting together a page to raise money for it. I'll be getting all of that going once I'm finished with Witchblade. Stay tuned. And warm. And hopefully free from piles of snow.

On Sale Now: Doctor Who Vol. 3

On shelves now, the final 10th Doctor collection from IDW -- Doctor Who, Volume 3: Final Sacrifice. It collects issues 13-16 of the Doctor Who Ongoing series (the "Final Sacrifice" story arc by Tony Lee and myself), and the 2010 Doctor Who annual (which includes a story by Tony and myself, and the "Big, Blue Box" story that I wrote and drew).

Original Art Blog update

Just dropped a batch of new pages onto my original art for sale blog, including pages from the final Eleventh Doctor story, "Final Sacrifice". And for one week only, I'm dropping my usual prices. 2010 was a great year for me, which means I've got a lot of original art sitting around my office. Need to get as much of it out the door as I can.

Happy New Year!

I'm spending New Year's Eve at the art table, penciling and inking like a madman, but I did want to take a moment and say, "Happy New Year!".

2010 was a good year for me. I got to work on IDW's Doctor Who comic book -- my all-time favorite character -- which led to not only doing more art on the book, but even getting to write and draw my own Doctor Who story for the 2010 IDW Doctor Who Annual. Definitely a career highlight for me. Not to mention, I also got to write a prose story for the 2010 Witchblade Annual, my first professional credit as a prose writer.

Speaking of Top Cow, I'm closing the year working with my old friend Ron Marz on two issues of Witchblade, which is a thrill. We haven't worked together since our days at Crossgen, and it's good to be a team again, if only for a couple issues.

And I even got to do one last project with Ben Abernathy at WildStorm before they closed their doors for good -- a few pages from a FRINGE graphic novel/motion comic they've been serializing on their Facebook page. Always a thrill to work with Ben.

So, yeah... it's been a good year. And there are lots of things either already on my slate or currently in development for next year. So here's to 2010, and to whatever 2011 will bring.

Have a great 2011, everyone!

Random Bits and Pieces

Just hit the halfway point on the first of my Witchblade fill-in issues, so still buried under work, but two nice things happened this week --

IDW Publishing's DOCTOR WHO comic made MTV Splash Page's Best Comics of 2010 list as "Best Licensed Comic", with a nice mention of the work Tony Lee and I have done on the title. Big thanks to Rick Marshall and the Splash Page crew for including us in such heady company.

And the first reviews of the 2010 Witcblade Annual (which features my short illustrated prose story, "Witchblade: the Devil's Due") are coming in and seem positive so far, especially a fun review from Graphic Policy, where the reviewer ended up enjoying my story despite finding a prose story in a comic book a little jarring.

-- Both nice ways to round out the year for me. I hope to have a few 'End of Year' posts up in the next couple of weeks, and maybe even a holiday image if I can get around to actually doing one at some point. In the meantime, I hope you are all enjoying a great holiday season.