OUT NOW: John Wagner, Alan Grant & Various - Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 12

(Rebellion)

SCI-FI COMIC

Yet another huge Judge Dredd compendium from the pages of 2000AD. As per usual John Wagner and Alan Grant take up the writing reins of the ultimate lawman as he brings tough justice to the streets of sci-fi metropolis Mega City One. Equal parts black comedy, action and science fiction satire, some stories are hit and miss (the Wizard of Oz pastiche is particularly painful) but when you take into account 2000AD’s weekly schedule their consistency is astounding.

Featuring artists such as Jamie Hewlett, Glenn Fabry, Brendan McCarthy and Brett Ewins, this volume also sees the advent of full colour in the world of Judge Dredd, for approximately two thirds of this anthology. Unfortunately, some of the colouring is a little rough (and in some places the art is downright ugly) but as you’d expect, it’s always entertaining and often thrilling.

Church of Hell #1 officially goes on sale in February 2009 (Launch party will be at NYCC in Feb) and is now available for pre-ordering through Previews magazine.

Order Code: NOV083839

Im working with an all-star team on this book - The script is written by the legendary ALAN GRANT and the covers are being painted by the equally legendary SIMON BISLEY and GLENN FABRY! Since its a first issue and Berserker is a relatively small new publisher, you might have to ask your retailer specifically to get the book in for you.

The official Church of Hell comic website is up an running at: www.churchofhellcomic.com with concept art and interior page previews, and will be updated with new artwork and other good stuff in the weeks and months ahead.

"They say if you repent your sins, you'll be forgiven. They say if you're truly sorry, your evil will be cleansed away. But it's not only God who loves a sinner...and when you enter the Church of Hell, you don't come out with a smile on your face. Unless the Devil has cut you a new mouth."

http://shelfelf.wordpress.com/2009/01/19/author-interview-mac/

The comic-style illustrations throughout your book are part of what makes your work unusual and wonderful. They’re so big and bold and I think they do a lot to enhance the overall mood of the story and the reader’s perception of the characters. Was that something that you wanted from the beginning? Tell us more about how the illustrations came to be such an integral part of Anna Smudge.

Yes, I desperately wanted illustrations from the very beginning. My apartment is filled to the brim with comic books and I just love illustrated books in general. I mean, when I was a young reader, what would Treasure Island have been without NC Wyeth?

And when I write, for me, it’s a very visual process. I know a scene is ready when I can see it play out in my head like a mini movie.

But I count myself VERY lucky to have Greg Horn (covers) and Glenn Fabry (interior illustrations) on board the series with me. These guys can literally draw ANYTHING (apparently in any style too: Greg just drew a cartoony mascot for a private school and Glenn did a book for The Simpsons comic in that fun Matt Groening style) and both have such a great sense of humor. So, it is always a challenge to come up with characters and images that will live up to their talent. It is humbling.

You’ve succeeded in writing a book that’s loaded with kid appeal. It’s funny and action-packed, with gutsy kid heroes you cheer for the whole way through. I know that boys and girls will love this story. What’s your take on the way that kids’ books are often labeled “for boys” and “for girls”?

Well, there’s a pretty dire epidemic spreading through the young community called cooties. I desperately wanted this book to be cooty free. I know there is this big, icky girl on the cover, and she has a girly name like Anna Smudge, but if you young gentlemen would just do me the courtesy of flipping over the book to the back cover, there you will discover a wonderful world filled with scary hitmen wielding toilet bowl plungers, insane art teachers, and the Naked Seaweed Man (‘nuff said about him). Finely crafted bathroom humor, explosions, and dodgeball await!

The important point here is that, yes, I wanted to write a boy-friendly story. But equally, I wanted to write an action story for the present-day girls like me (who enjoy Meg Cabot as well as Jet Li.) And just as I sneak some “guy” action stuff in there to the girls, I sneak some “girl” relationship stuff in there to the boys. All of you parents out there who use the “motor boat” or “airplane” technique know what I am talking about.

Ugh. This answer is long without saying much. Let me boil it down for you. Have you ever met a girl who didn’t like Goonies? Well, that’s what I’m trying to do.

Five favourites:

Favourite mystery for kids you wish you’d written: Harry Potter

Favourite diner in NYC: Yaffa Café

Favourite comic book: Watchmen. Ultimate Spider-Man. Surrogates. Top Ten.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Preacher Book One Hardcover set for June 24th release

Preacher is one of the great comic book stories of our time. If you haven't read it June 24th is a great time to start, as they will be releasing the first twelve issues collected for the first time in a hardcover format.

I'm sure these will look beautiful, but my bookshelf would look so much more badass if DC / Vertigo would release Absolute Editions. Maybe someday!

The deets:

PREACHER BOOK ONE HC
Written by Garth Ennis
Art by Steve Dillon
Cover by Glenn Fabry

“Features more blood and blasphemy than any mainstream comic in memory. Cool.” — Entertainment Weekly

Available for the first time in hardcover, preacher Jesse Custer begins his dark journey to find God, in this volume collecting PREACHER #1-12, plus pinups from PREACHER #50 and #66. After merging with a bizarre spiritual force called Genesis, Texan preacher Jesse Custer has become completely disillusioned with the beliefs to which he had dedicated his entire life. Now possessing the power of “the word,” an ability to make people do whatever he utters, Custer begins a violent and riotous journey across the country. Joined by his gun-toting girlfriend Tulip and the hard-drinking Irish vampire Cassidy, Custer loses faith in both God and man as he witnesses dark atrocities and improbable calamities during his exploration of America. This new collected edition features an all-new introduction by series writer Garth Ennis.

Advance-solicited; on sale June 24 • FC, 352 pg, $34.99 US • Mature Readers

40: MAD SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON SPECIAL EDITION "The best things in life are free," sang Barrett Strong, and he oughta know...he co-wrote "Heard it Through the Grapevine." But he never got his picture on a bubblegum card, and he never went to Comic-Con San Diego, where he coulda picked up a free copy of MAD magazine's special, which features The Usual Gang of Idiots spoofing America's favorite gathering of the comics fans, Stormtroopers, Gothic Lolitas and little stuffed bulls! There's a funny "Comic-Con Bingo" where you score points if you can locate a Homeless Man Mistaken For Alan Moore, a Huge Campaign for a Doomed Movie (hellllo, Frank Miller!), A Forgotten Celebrity, or MADman Sergio Aragones! Speaking of which, Sergio has contributed four full-color pages of silent strips set at Comic-Con! But the main attraction is a dead-on spoof of Watchmen (entitled, in the grand MAD manner, "Botchmen"). Written by Desmond Devlin and Drawn by Glenn Fabry in a perfect Dave Gibbons imitation, it manages to be a satire not only of everybody's favorite graphic novel featuring Rorshach™ but also a parody of the movie nobody's even seen yet! Plus, just like the real modern-day MAD, plenty of ads! And the price? FREE! (Cheap!)

#48: GREATEST HITS What If?...The Fab Four became The Fantastic Four? That's the general concept behind my favorite new Vertigo comic in the past couple years: a psychedelic tour through the sixties, seen through the eyes of a documentary filmmaker trying to capture the story behind the headlines of The Mates, the quintessential 1960s superhero quartet, at the same time unraveling a mystery stretching to the modern day. It's a furiously fun concept that I seriously can't believe nobody's done before, and series creators David Tischman and Glenn Fabry fill this miniseries with enough brilliant ideas for comics twice their length. Intentionally confusing, leaping back and forth in time, a whirlwind journey through sex, superheroes, and rock 'n' roll that rewards re-reading and will make a great gateway comic in trade paperback.

Me on Resonance radio..... http://www.archive.org/details/PanelBordersTheArtOfGlennFabry