Image has announced that ‘76 #5 is out this Wednesday. For those who’ve either forgotten what went on in the first four issues, or who have yet to read them, here’s a link to the first four issues of each book’s co-feature. Free!:
JACKIE KARMA (by myself and Ed Tadem):
http://www.jackiekarma.blogspot.com/
COOL (by Seth Peck and Tigh Walker):
Hope you dig!
One of the things I’ve always gotten comments about with HAWAIIAN DICK are the little pieces of backmatter we’d occasionally use to help shine some light on Byrd’s world. For whatever reason, we left these out of the first trade (HAWAIIAN DICK: BYRD OF PARADISE), and then decided to skip them in the second collection, as well. So I thought I’d share them here, including a couple of pages we might well include in the next trade, from the third series.
Click on each image for a full-size view. All design work done by Steven Griffin. (Scans courtesy of guys illegally scanning the comics and distributing them via torrent sites)
From HAWAIIAN DICK #1:
From HAWAIIAN DICK: THE LAST RESORT #4:
From HAWAIIAN DICK (Vol. 2) #2:
The upcoming GREAT BIG HAWAIIAN DICK #1 will no doubt feature even more droppings from our dripping brains.
I thought I’d reveal something that I’m not sure anyone who happened to read both BATTLE HYMN and THE EXPATRIATE caught the first time around. I’m also not sure how many read both books, but let’s pretend it was many, many people.
For kicks, EXPAT artist Jason Latour and I decided to toss in a couple of nods to the roughly concurrently produced WW II book, which was drawn by Jeremy Haun. One of the lead characters in the first EXPATRIATE arc was a weathered (and ill-fated) CIA agent named Conrad. Conrad had clearly been around for a good twenty plus years, and since Expat was set in 1964, it only made sense that he would have been a young agent in 1943 (which is when BATTLE HYMN was set). Here’s Conrad in issue two of THE EXPATRIATE (click on any of the small pages for a closer look):
That’s Conrad complaining about the heat. Twenty-one years earlier, the also ill-fated Dr. Cloud (creator of the Artificial Man) received a knock upon his door in BATTLE HYMN #4:
Of course, he probably shouldn’t have answered:
Another secondary character who tries to hold things together in BATTLE HYMN is our unnamed Colonel. Here we first meet him, as he’s introduced to the existence of Quin Rey:
Later, the good Colonel shares a bottle with our heroes in the wake of a funeral (BATTLE HYMN #4):
Twenty-one years later, in THE EXPATRIATE #4, we meet an unnamed General who might look a bit familiar, and seems to enjoy a snort of whiskey:
A closer look at a framed photo on his wall might confirm our suspicions:
It should look familiar to anyone who’s spent a few minutes flipping through BATTLE HYMN #2:
So, there you go. Some sly little Easter eggs that tie our two separate books into the same fucked up universe.
Recently MTV’s Splash Page has run features on the film progress (and related topics) for Billy Smoke, The Leading Man and Hawaiian Dick. Click for direct links:
Progress! From the Hollywood Reporter’s Boris Kit:
Helmer where there’s ‘Smoke’
‘Traitor’s’ Nachmanoff set for WB comic book adaptation
By Borys Kit
May 6, 2009, 11:00 PM ET
Jeffrey Nachmanoff, the writer-director behind “Traitor,” is puffing “Billy Smoke,” signing up to direct the adaptation of the Oni Press comic book for Warner Bros.
Matthew Fox is attached to star in the assassin thriller, with Basil Iwanyk’s Thunder Road producing along with Oni’s Eric Gitter, who is producing through the company’s film arm, Closed on Mondays Entertainment.
The story centers on an elite hit man who is nearly killed during a botched job. He realizes that his only way to find redemption is to rid the world of all assassins.
The comic book series, written by B. Clay Moore and illustrated by Eric Kim, will be published by Oni this year.
Oni’s Peter Schwerin is exec producing “Smoke.”
Warners’ Matt Reilly shepherds the project at the studio.
Gersh-repped Nachmanoff is known for his work as a screenwriter. He co-wrote “The Day After Tomorrow” and worked on “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” as well as on in-development projects such as “Unnatural History” and “Liberty.”
Last year, Nachmanoff directed “Traitor,” starring Don Cheadle. He also wrote the political thriller.
(of their lifetime, anyway)
Pretty flattering!
Pick up WIZARD #212 for the full list!
And check out more info on HAWAIIAN DICK: BYRD OF PARADISE at www.hawaiiandick.com
Received a box of CASEY BLUE trades this week, and the book will be in shops on Wednesday.
Additionally, I’ll have a few copies with me in Orlando next weekend.
Found a curious listing for Italian editions of BATTLE HYMN, evidently published (or at least solicited) by Italy Comics in 2008. What’s especially odd about these is that it looks as if the series was re-issued as a series of single issues. Normally foreign reprints (at least in my experience) are trade collections (or albums).
It also looks as if they used Tony Moore’s cover for BATTLE HYMN #5 as a special variant for the first issue, and then used Jeremy’s cover for the trade as the cover for issue five.
I pulled these images off the Italy Comics website. If anyone has seen these, let me know. I’m not concerned about it, as it’s always nice to see your work exposed to new audiences, but I’m curious how they look:
Here’s a link to the site:
Back in 2004 or 2005, Ramon Perez and I kicked around doing a dark superhero book that would also work to take some of the air out of the “dark” superhero wave of the day (which has since pretty much conquered the industry). Drawing from BATTLE HYMN and a short story/prelude I was supposed to write for a DIGITAL WEBBING PRESENTS “all star issue,” Ramon and I worked up some concepts and I scripted the first issue.
As happens sometimes, things fell through the cracks. A few of the characters were absorbed into THE STEEL CITY HAWK, a book Jason Latour and I have slowly been putting together, and some of them are twisting in the wind, looking for the right home.
But I still quite like the first script, and I still have some of the concept art lying around, so I thought I’d post it here as an example of one that almost made it before we got distracted by other things. If there are any young, bored, or aspiring artists looking for practice/sample scripts to work from, feel free to have at it. Who knows…maybe the book will find new life one day.
In any event, here’s the first full script (unedited from the last draft, written a few years ago). You’ll note that on a few pages there’s a distinct lack of “stage direction.” That’s because I knew Ramon was drawing the book, and I knew he’d find interesting ways to tell the story without me holding his hand:
And here are some character designs. First up is the Black Kite herself. This particular take is by Jason Latour, and it’s pretty much the finished design:
A couple of takes on the National here. Ramon’s initial take, which incorporates my concept of shields that pop from his forearms, and the first take by Jason Latour, who I’m still debating the shields with. I like ‘em.
I’d like to do something with the National beyond his planned appearance in STEEL CITY HAWK:
Here’s Ramon’s take on the Communicator, which is perfect. His suit lets him fly and observe, but his main role is watching and…communicating:
Oh! And…yeah. The Mid-Nite Hour. He’s the star of BATTLE HYMN, but in case you haven’t read that gem. Here’s the Hour by Jeremy Haun (he’s on the left…I pinched this from an old Rotten Tomatoes review I found):
So, yeah. That’s the deal. I was surprised how much I enjoyed rereading this script, a few years down the road. Kind of wish we’d gotten it done.
So, Latour is pretty much one of the emerging bright lights in comic book illustration. And he also writes. I’ve known Jason for years now, having first connected when I was looking for someone to draw what became BATTLE HYMN back in 2003. Eventually we managed to squeeze out four issues of THE EXPATRIATE at Image, which was left kind of hanging in the air, but taught us both a lot about how we wanted to approach things in the future. For the record, we’ve been slowly crafting an ending to THE EXPATRIATE, with the idea in mind to collect the (slightly revised) existing issues and the new ending together into a single trade. Last year Jason did this phenomenal print to remind those who cared that we weren’t quite done yet (click for a bigger view):
In fairness, Jason’s been doing most of the heavy lifting there, but sometimes that’s how our brand of collaborating falls.
Another project in the works is THE STEEL CITY HAWK, which we fully plan on dropping via Image no later than 2010. This one is a complicated, ever evolving thing, but when it’s done it will introduce readers to a new universe of good guys, bad guys, and spiritual wanderers. The cover below is actually the second cover Jason worked up for the first issue, and by the time the book is published, I have no doubt it’ll be tweaked once again. But I think it’s a thing of beauty, and shows off our protagonist in fine fashion (again, click for the bigger view):
And here’s the original cover for issue three, featuring the White Owl and Vox Populi:
At the moment, Jason’s working on an original graphic novel for one of the majors, and when it’s done I honestly think it’s going to blow anyone with an eye for graphic design and storytelling away.
Not bad for a kid from Hooptyville who believes he “should have been born in the future…or the past.”
