I'm not slacking...I SWEAR!

Whew! Okay, I've been too busy to take the time to post a new blog entry for a while. Still am, technically.

Imperium switched printers so the current issue of Trailer Park of Terror has to be reformatted slightly to fit the new printer's specs. So I'm modifying and uploading....uploading "as we speak" in fact.

I've started lettering on Lost Squad #2!!

I just got some more Nothingface out the door last night for Mike Hamlett to get started on...a big 40 page stand-alone issue with goth nightclubs and drug kingpin's and explosions and all kinds o' good stuff!

I also just signed another artist to a three issue Nothingface arc. He's not a huge name yet, but he darn well should be! He's done work for Marvel, Image and Moonstone and has a kickass project in the works with a manga publisher (the fact it's a manga publisher is not really indicative of his art style). We're all set, he's on board....I just need to get him a script. IF I can get ahead of the ball on these lettering gigs long enough to finish it. :D

Now for a little eye-candy! Here area couple pages from that Trailer Park issue mentioned above....

I'm goin' international, baby!

Well, I should say even MORE international. Nothingface currently has a Turkish edition from Hoz Comics on the market and today the official press release was sent out announcing my representation by International Enterprise. They will be representing me in offering Nothingface publication license to over 50 publishers around the world!



PRESS RELEASE
CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED MYSTERIES AND ANOTHER SELECTION OF IMAGE TITLES EXPAND ENTERPRISE LINE

CONTACT: Tim Hegarty, International Rights Manager
Tim.Hegarty@gmail.com;
www.InternationalEnterprise.org

Another block-buster announcement of the best comics available today, represented internationally by International Enterprise:

Added this week and featured on www.InternationalEnterprise.org
- "Brodie's Law" Pulp Theatre Entertainment
- "Nothingface" Digital Webbing and Morpheus Forge Entertainment
- "Rex Mundi"
- "The Drowned"
- "Small Gods #5-11, Special" Image Comics

More critically acclaimed, best-selling books from Image, along with such quality editions as Kel Nuttall's Nothingface and Pulp Theatre's Brodie's Law, which is now being made into a movie with Renny Harlin directing. Preview pages and promotional artwork are available on the website, along with all the information on these titles, links to further info and recent press/review materials.

Stay tuned for more blockbuster announcements as we prepare for the Frankfurt International BookFair this October. Meeting time is filling up fast for the five days of the Fair, so contact us today to review our latest catalog of represented titles.

**********

International Enterprise is dedicated to representing a diverse and constantly-updated roster of Amercian comics and graphic novels to publishers all over the world. Negotiating the rights and licenses on behalf of comic creators, the Enterprise creates more profits and exposure for creators and publishers world-wide. Our website is immediately updated with all the latest information on our represented titles, along with exclusive materials only available through our services. Visit www.InternationalEnterprise.org today and find tomorrow's best seller in your territory.

Just a short installment today as I'm behind on several things and should be off writing or lettering. To the left there are a couple of warm-up sketches by Dan Schmidt as he prepares to begin work on Nothingface #2....actually, he's hopefully already started. You hear that, Dan? You BETTER be working!


Chris Kirby, writer of Lost Squad, did an interview @ Comic Book Resources with TONS of sample art and lots of SPOILER info on the characters...stuff I didn't even know, an' I work on the book! Go check it out HERE.









Tonight's time wasting (well, I'll be working and watching at the same time so it's not a total waste): In addition to my usual Friday night geekfest of Stargate and Battlestart Galactica, tonight on CBS they are premiering their new sci-fi show "Threshold". Basically, from the previews it looks like earth is being invaded and caught in the middle of a space war or some such. Looks fun plus it's got Brent Spiner (Star Trek Next Gen's Data), badass actor Charles S. Dutton AND cute-as-a-bug actress Carla Gugino (Spy Kids, Sin City).

You never know where you'll make a sale...

[NOTE: I took a couple days off around September 11th. I started to post something on the 11th but hit the wrong button and lost it. In the long run I think it was better to NOT post it...it was a bit too personal and possibly controversial to some.]

I think I've decided that from now on, whenever I leave the house, I take a couple copies of the Nothingface graphic novel with me. I spent a good chunk of Saturday sitting in a little restaurant/pub where a friend of mine works. You know, the kind of smart, funny, pretty friend whose smart-funny-prettiness makes you want to spend a good chunk of time away from the things you SHOULD be doing just to be around them for a little while and recharge your batteries with a little bit of their energy. Uhh...anyway.....

So, I'm sitting there and I wind up slipping myself into someone elses conversation. This guy was talking about this series of sci-fi novels he's completely enthralled with and it sounds interesting. At some point he asks about MY book, I guess he'd heard about it from my friend. I would have had a sale right then and there...if I'd only had a copy on me! I'm supposed to take one in for him this upcoming weekend...so I still make the sale, just a little delayed. One down, a few boxes full to go!

Work-wise: I'm getting started on Trailer Park of Terror Halloween Special #2 letters and I'm almost done lettering Lost Squad #1, just waiting for a couple more pages of art on that one. Still working on a couple Nothingface scripts, #2 is done and Dan is working on that now (at least he BETTER be!) and I have another single-issue story that is done and I'm waiting to hear back from the artist who was interested. Still looking for a colorist. One expressed interest but I'm still waiting to hear back.

How am I wasting time?
I broke down and bought the Lost Season 1 DVD. Lost was one of the shows last season that I didn't miss a single episode of, along with 24 and Alias, but I just wanted to see the whole thing again before the new season starts next week. I watch too much TV as it is so BUYING a TV show seems really....wrong, somehow. But what the heck, it's better than being out partying or something...I'm too old for that stuff anyway. ;)

Besides, how can I resist Evangeline Lilly?

I think I can...I think I can...I think I can...

Well, today was pretty much a wash. I got nothing done...NOTHING. I guess everyone has days like that, right? I seem to do something comic-related dang near every day....writing, lettering, scouring the internet for pencilers, inkers or colorists. But today was one of those days when the stress of real life... feuding with family members, money stress, still missing my dad who just died in June, "social life", some weird ghosts from my past... combined with the stress of trying to produce independent comics to just blast any motivation I may have woken with right out of my system.

I guess people with real jobs might call it a mental health day. I screwed around on message boards and read some email, watched TV and went for a very short drive. I guess once in a while you just have to step away from things.

In the course of screwing around today I heard some interesting news about the way Diamond is doing business these days. (For friends or relatives who are NOT comic geeks but may be reading, Diamond is Diamond Comics Distributors. They are THIIIIIIIIIIIS close to being the only comic distributor in the country.) Basically they are tightening up their rules on how much you have to sell to be carried by them and anyone knows the behind-the-scenes side of comics knows what it boils down to is that outside of 6-8 publishers, most everyone else is really going to be hurting. There isn't even as much "wiggle room" as there used to be. Once upon a time, if they thought you had a shot they'd carry you even if your numbers weren't great, trying to give you a chance to find enough audience to meet their requirements. NOW, if you get the numbers MOST small press and self-published books hit when getting started....you're screwed immediately. Pretty discouraging. Added to the stress level.

But after a bit of panic I'm back to my previous level of debilitating stress and I figure I'll just get these books made and THEN figure out how to get them out there. I KNOW this stuff is good and I know I'm working with good artists. What's one more obstacle on a miles long obstacle course? We'll climb over it or run around it or if I have my way we'll handle it the way most problems in life should be handled....with a suitable application of high explosives.

Now, for anyone bored enough to suffer through my bitching and complaining, a sketch. This is a development sketch of one of Novak's future clients, Kandee Kane. The sketch is by Mike Hamlett.

It's a bird! It's a plan! It's LETTER-MAN!!

I'm not the only one who remembers "Letterman" from The Electric Company, am I? You know....faster than a rolling O, stronger than silent E, able to leap a capital T in a single bound??

Uhhh...anyway, aside from working on my own comic projects, I also letter other people's books. Right now, these are the three larger books I'm working on.

TRAILER PARK OF TERROR is a fun book...a real blast! It's Twilight Zone-ish stories in an antholgy format like Tales From the Crypt. BUT, instead of the creepy mummy looking goul for a host, WE have a voluptuous, undead trailer park skank named Norma. Ongoing, color, roughly quarterly, published by Imperium Comics.

Chris Kirby's LOST SQUAD is a throwback to old army comics and movies with a modern edge to it. It's like SGT. ROCK mixed with FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE as directed by Speilberg in an INDIANA JONES mood. His band a varied rascals and roughnecks come together to deal with some bizarre goings-on. Alan Robinson provides the art and does a fantastic job illustrating the big action....bombs and car chases and gunfights and great big giant bloodthirsty ...guess I should stop before I spoil anything. Check it out! It looks great and Chris is one of my favorite "why isn't he working for the big boys" writers. 6-issue mini, B&W, monthly, published by Devil's Due.



DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES is all about pirates ...and zombies ...and Holy treasure!! What else do you need to know?!? PIRATES! ZOMBIES! BUY IT! 4-issue mini, color, monthly, published by Arcana Studios.

Buy these series...so these guys can afford to pay me!!!

Let's get this thing started!

Okay...following the lead of other comic creators, I've decided to try doing a blog. It's easier than updating the bloody website... www.morpheusforge.com ...and short daily (or near daily) installments will give anyone interested a little insight as to how my projects are going and what's involved.

NOTHINGFACE - The original graphic novel came out last December and did fairly well for a $13 book from a bunch of no-names. It has since been published in Turkey in a translated edition and done quite well. (The book is still available from Discount Comic Book Service, I believe, as well as directly from me. It features artwork by Yildiray Cinar, the team of Nick Postic & Nick Marinkovich (IDW's Underworld), Dan Schmidt and Ryan Scott. The book has also sold fairly well at conventions, thanks to the various members of the Digital Webbing creators community who've represented it at different shows. They tell me the concept makes it a pretty easy sell. This is leadingus into the upcoming Nothingface series.

For the series, I'm starting off working different artists for different story arcs. For a bit of continuity I'm using the same cover artist for all the arcs...Juan Ferreyra, the artist on SMALL GODS from Image! The first arc in production is tentatively called "Homeland"...sort of an homage to the show 24...drawn by Dan "Dano" Schmidt. He just finished up issue #1 and is getting started on #2.





Check out a few (non-sequential) pages...




I'm looking for a colorist and may have found one. I also have a few other really great artists who will hopefully be starting art on their arcs soon. No date is set yet for the series, I want to have a fair amount of material "in the can" before we solicit.

Testing....

Just what I said...TESTING!