I'm going to be a guest of the Emerald City Comic Con this weekend (March 13-14) in Seattle, WA. Never been to ECCC, Seattle or the state of Washington before so this should be fun.
Steve Rolston and I are going to be, more or less, parked at the Oni Press booth (#406 on the ECCC floor plan) promoting the debut issue of GHOST PROJEKT #1 this week. We'll also be part of a special 'Q&A' session at the Oni Press Panel on Saturday at 4:00 PM (Room A).
Stop by and say hello if you're going!
You may not have heard this through about every means possible, but artist Steve Rolston and I have a new book out today. GHOST PROJEKT #1: "Cold Warriors" is gorgeous and we're all very proud of the work and we really hope you check it out.
Written by Joe Harris (Nightmare Factory, Creepy, Darkness Falls, The Tripper), illustrated by Steve Rolston, coloured by Dean Trippe and published by Oni Press.
Fans of the hit series Queen & Country may rejoice now that Oni Press is once again trodding down the road of action-espionage with their new supernatural spy story, Ghost Projekt.Russia is often remembered from the shadow cast during the Cold War-era when every stranger was a spy, but now that the Cold War is long over, some things left behind from that era may not stay lost. An abandoned Soviet research facility somewhere in Siberia has been home to a strange and dangerous weapon that is now in the hands of thieves claiming it for their own. U.S. weapons inspector Will Haley has been assigned to find out what dangers the weapon poses, and with the help of Russian agent Anya Romanova, they will find the answers but it will be far from easy.
It's the first of many creator-owned comics titles I'll be launching this year (look for more announcements as we snake through the summer convention season).
You can click here to check out a FREE 13-PAGE PREVIEW of the book!
Other GHOST PROJEKT goodies from around the internets:
Podcast interview with Joe Harris on iFanboy
Ghost Projekt #1 marked a Staff Pick in the Diamond Previews catalog
Interview with Joe & Steve at Ain't It Cool News
Interview with Joe at Bloody Disgusting, part 1 & part 2
Advance review on the A Comicbook Orange podcast
Interview with Joe & Steve at Comic Book Resources
I recorded a podcast interview with iFanboy over the weekend talking GHOST PROJEKT #1, Steve Rolston's singular genius, how I broke into writing comics at Marvel and more.
My cracked early Sunday voice follows...
Steve and I sat down with Ain't It Cool News to talk GHOST PROJEKT.
Looks like the solicitations have leaked early. Coming in tomorrow's Previews Catalog from Diamond, things start heating up on the horror front...
GHOST PROJEKT Book Three (of Five)
"Dark Riders"
(W) Joe Harris (A) Steve Rolston
On Sale May 19, 2010
Diamond Code # MAR101105
Will and Anya race to stop a black market weapons deal only to discover that Will's American superiors may know more than they've let on. But all that might not matter once the supernatural weapon they've been chasing -- the mysterious "Dosvidanya Projekt" -- is unleashed in the heart of Moscow's Red Square!
Casey at A Comic Book Orange sent me a link to her advance review of GHOST PROJEKT #1.
"In Ghost Projekt by Joe Harris and Steve Rolston the ghosts of Cold War experiments literally haunt the present... the mystery is intriguing and the art great. It gets 3.5 Oranges (out of 5)."
The various comics sites are running our just released free 13 page preview of GHOST PROJEKT #1 and since I can't choose which one to link to, I'm just going to paste them all here... the rest continues after the break.
Note: GHOST PROJEKT #1 will be on sale March 10th, not March 3rd as previously listed.
GHOST PROJEKT #1
Written by Joe Harris, Art by Steve Rolston, Colors by Dean Trippe.Russia is often remembered from the shadow cast during the Cold War-era when every stranger was a spy, but now that the Cold War is long over, some things left behind from that era may not stay lost. An abandoned Soviet research facility somewhere in Siberia has been home to a strange and dangerous weapon that is now in the hands of thieves claiming it for their own. U.S. weapons inspector Will Haley has been assigned to find out what dangers the weapon poses and with the help of Russian agent Anya Romanova they will find the answers, but it will be far from easy.
Diamond Code: JAN10 1074
In Comic Shops 3/10/2010
The solicits are out for the second issue of GHOST PROJEKT. The book will be released by Oni Press on April 21st. If you're headed to the comic shop, please let your retailer know you want to order a copy:
Diamond Order# FEB101047
(W) Joe Harris(A) Steve Rolston
As U.S. Weapons Inspector Will Haley and his Russian counterpart Anya Romanova begin to uncover the truth behind the mysterious military project known only as 'Dosvidanya,' those most closely associated with the program keep turning up dead. Can this pair of sleuths get past their cultural differences before the body count rises even further, or is this just a prelude to the nightmare the Soviets planned for their enemies?
Part Two of my interview with Bloody Disgusting has been posted. Many more GHOST PROJEKT details dropped including character stuff, story elements and influences. Any chance in which I get to profess my old school fondness for Brian Lumley's legendary NECROSCOPE novels, I am happy.
I did an interview with old friends at Bloody Disgusting. Lots of GHOST PROJEKT details dropped.
Check it out!
Check out the ad running in Oni Press' hit color titles RESURRECTION by Marc Guggenheim and STUMPTOWN by Greg Rucka:
Diamond Comics Order #JAN101074
GHOST PROJEKT, the new supernatural thriller comic series from artist Steve Rolston (Queen & Country, Mek, Emiko Superstar), Oni Press and myself hits the stores in March and Diamond has made the book a "Staff Pick" in the upcoming issue of PREVIEWS:
Fans of the hit series Queen & Country may rejoice now that Oni Press is once again trodding down the road of action-espionage with their new supernatural spy story, Ghost Projekt.
Russia is often remembered from the shadow cast during the Cold War-era when every stranger was a spy, but now that the Cold War is long over, some things left behind from that era may not stay lost. An abandoned Soviet research facility somewhere in Siberia has been home to a strange and dangerous weapon that is now in the hands of thieves claiming it for their own. U.S. weapons inspector Will Haley has been assigned to find out what dangers the weapon poses, and with the help of Russian agent Anya Romanova, they will find the answers but it will be far from easy.
Readers of Queen & Country will feel at home with illustrations by Steve Rolston, but writer Joe Harris, a contributor to several Batman and X-Men titles, is the new addition to the Oni Press stable. Oni Press is usually known for its original graphic novels but 2010 may just be the year of great comic books from a company already known for its diverse, award-winning titles.
See PREVIEWS page 279.
(W) Joe Harris (A) Steve Rolston U.S. Weapons Inspector Will Haley has seen his share of scary stuff. When your job routinely involves donning a hazmat suit, grabbing your Geiger counter and jetting into sometimes-hostile territory, "scary" feels almost normal. But when the alarm sounds at an abandoned Soviet facility, Haley, along with Russian "operativnik" Anya Romanova, must track a stolen weapon unlike any they've encountered before. What is the "Dosvidanya" project... and are they too late to stop it?
Diamond Comics Order #JAN101074
I'm going to be updating the site as called for as we get closer to launch with news of promotions, convention appearances and previews. Steve Rolston is knocking himself out getting this book looking as good as it does, and colorist Dean Trippe is helping make this a nice followup to Oni's recent color series successes, RESURRECTION and STUMPTOWN.
Please let your retailer know to order you a copy!
***REVISED
Check out these special preview images by Steve Rolston and Dean Trippe!
The solicits are out and CREEPY #3 will be released on February 24, 2010. Included is the twistedly, mind-fuckingly climactic third and final chapter of THE CURSE by yours truly and Jason Shawn Alexander.
From Dark Horse's Site:
Uncle Creepy is back with the third thick and icky issue of Creepy! This issue Doug Moench and Angelo Torres team up to tell a tale of demonic devotion and organized crime, Joe Harris and Jason Shawn Alexander wrap their warped three-parter, "The Curse," and a weird revisionist look back at the fall of the Nazi empire reveals a shocking truth-evil never dies! Plus an all-new Loathsome Lore, a bonus Creepy classic story, and more!* Creepy debuted to rave reviews in July 2009, and the first issue sold out!
"Terrifyingly good!" - Cory Doctorow, boingboing.net
Publication Date: February 24, 2010
Format: B&W, 48 pages
Price: $4.99
UPC: 7 61568 15862 5 00311
As previously mentioned, Part Two of THE CURSE in last quarter's issue suffered a printing error. As a result, Dark Horse has made the entire 10-page story available for free online and it's still up for your consumption.
Just stumbled upon this sort of retrospect look at the SLINGERS book ChrisCross and I did for Marvel back in 1998-1999. Very strange to look back on it. But it did make me smile.
I was a complete newbie writer. Early 20-something. And I'd somehow slipped under the Marvel Comics fence and into the House of Ideas... which wasn't a very functional place, in those days. The company was still in bankruptcy. The X-titles, which I would eventually contribute more to, were running on fumes while trying to find their footing and everything felt transitory around the old offices on Park Avenue South.
SLINGERS would launch in a void in which the core Spider-books (themselves riding a similar wave of fatigue and reader dissatisfaction) took a brief hiatus. The title was my first monthly endeavor after writing a few fill-in issues of X-FORCE and X-FACTOR and I had to learn on my feet. I made some choices I'm probably proud of to this day... as well as some strange ones that make me scratch my head and wonder what the fuck I was thinking now that I'm nudged to recall some of them. I was just a kid, lucky to be there, even if the company was in dire straits and suffering a terrible malaise.
We weren't helped by the silly sales gimmick that saw variant interiors stretch through four separate editions of the first issue... but we did try to deliver well-characterized stories of real young people in extraordinary situations. At that time, I didn't have a role model for what I wanted this title to be. I just wrote it as though attempting to fill a void I thought was there, at the time. And I still get emails from fans of the book who kept me oddly informed of the eventual fates and re-appearances of Ricochet, Hornet, Prodigy and Dusk over the years in the pages of books like Marvel's RUNAWAYS.
Makes me smile to look back on this. Though now I have this strange pang of regret that I never got to tell that Asgard story I'd planned for year two.
Just wanted to let everyone know that CREEPY #2, which contains the second installment of my story, "The Curse" was finally released yesterday by Dark Horse Comics... only there were a couple of unfortunate printing errors.
First, this second chapter of "The Curse" is mis-credited. A different writer's name is printed on the opening page when I did, in fact, write it. Same as I did "Part One" of this serialized tale of murder and mind-fucking, as well as the forthcoming "Part Three." Dan Braun has a terrific story elsewhere in this book... it just isn't "The Curse."
Second, page 8 of this 10-page chapter is missing text.. as in, all of it. No balloons. No captions. No nothing. And, I assure you, where there's certainly a time and place to get silent on a comic book page, the climax of this story's chapter was certainly not one of them. It's a weird production mistake that slipped through the cracks and, though it sucked to see this really fun and twisted story so gorgeously drawn by Jason Shawn Alexander presented unfinished and incomplete, Dark Horse Comics has made the entire 10-page story available for free online to make good.
The printed version will, obviously, be corrected in any future printings and collections. But, for now, I'd really appreciate it if people who read any press or reviews pertaining to CREEPY #2 could be made aware of this.
Like everyone else involved in the relaunch of CREEPY, I have a great deal of affection for the title and its history. Honest mistakes happen in the maddening process of getting comics out on time, though it still hurts to see one's work presented as less than was intended. I am proud of this story and wanted to set the record, however small, straight.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Best,
JH
I haven't been updating this site much lately but thought I'd check in and let everyone know that GHOST PROJEKT -- my first creator-owned title, co-created with Steve Rolston, is on track for a March 2010 release from Oni Press.
Steve just sent in the art for issue #3 and it's family fare like this that warms the cockles of my horror-loving heart:
In truth, we slaughter a whole bunch of Russians in this book (apologies to my Russian friends -- these were the bad sort we were after, not you).
It's my first title with the company, but not my last. THE HASHISHIAN is due to come out at some point later that year (we hope?).
More to come. Much, much more...
Creepy #2 was bumped from Dark Horse's schedule for October and will be released on November 25th.
I've seen the finished art and letters for Part Two of "The Curse" and it looks phenomenal! Can't wait for this to come out as my collaboration with Jason Shawn Alexander keeps getting cooler and more fucking twisted as we go.
And check out the new cover from Eric Powell!
I have a short story in this year's DC Halloween Special. It seems everybody goes through this book at some point and I'm looking forward to seeing the entire volume. My story follows Kid Flash and Mirror Master and involves a very creepy "Mirror Game" and the summoning of evil spirits.
Pick it up at the shop today.
Down, buried in a bunker and generating many, many new things that will be unveiled in the coming months.
Will be back with updates when and where appropriate... all I can say for now is, the culmination of many years and many efforts are about to bear fruit. I've had the good fortune to channel much of what I've been able to do (as well as what I've learned through spectacular failure on one or two fronts) into original, creator-owned comics projects which make me giddy to consider.
Please, if you do check this site, do keep doing so. Feel free to find me on Twitter, Facebook and anyplace else out there with a low standard of admission.
And, in the interim... Go Yankees!
Dark Horse has solicited CREEPY #2 with another pulpy cool cover by Eric Powell.
Jason Shawn Alexander absolutely killed it on Part One of our mind control power fuck story, THE CURSE. Jude's descent continues in Part Two, on sale October 28th.
It's alive! It's evil! And it's coming for you. Horror fans and art fiends, beware -- a new issue of new Creepy is lurking right around the corner. Dark Horse Comics and New Comic Company keep the hellfires burning in October with another evil-engorged 48 pages of short horror stories by established greats and ook-inducing newcomers. This issue, we're featuring the second mind-bendingly gruesome chapter of "The Curse;" a ghastly shocker from legendary horror writer Joe R. Lansdale; an all-new Loathsome Lore; new work from Jason Shawn Alexander, Dan Braun, and Greg Ruth and much, much gore! Creepy is not only packed with paralyzing tales of fear, it's a jaw-dropping value, too. With 48 pages packed with content, not advertising, our boo buffet is one hell of a deal!
* The reanimation of a beloved series continues with new, freakishly great stories!
* New frightening tales from masters of illustrated terror!
Publication Date: October 28, 2009
Format: B&W, 48 pages
Price: $4.99
UPC: 7 61568 15862 5 00211
Just saw this was posted on Newsarama over the weekend.
I'm writing a short story featuring Kid Flash and Mirror Master. Should be fun. I love injecting horror movie themes and conventions into the super hero genre.
DCU HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 2009 #1
Written by Joe Harris, Billy Tucci, Jake Black, Franco, Adam Schlagman, Mandy McMurray and others
Art by Rags Morales, Joe Prado and others Cover by Gene Ha
Darkness falls across the land as the DC Universe faces its greatest horror in this Halloween special filled with all-new stories! Watch as Guy Gardner continues his quest to share Halloween with the cosmos and his fellow alien Green Lantern Corps members. In another tale, Red Robin finds the true, deadly meaning of the sinister holiday while overseas on his quest to find Bruce Wayne. Meanwhile, Bizarro receives neither trick nor treat in his own backwards celebration of the spookiest night of the year on his home world. Plus, 10 other ghoulish tales to fill you with fright this Halloween!
On sale October 21 * 80 pg, one-shot, FC, $5.99 US
I'll be in San Diego (sometimes it feels like I haven't left)... look for me at the Dark Horse booth (#2615) where we'll be promoting CREEPY.
I'll be signing on Friday, July 24th at 5:00 pm.
Be sure to check out the first issue of the fabulously relaunched CREEPY from Dark Horse. On sale today, 7/15 at fine purveyors of comics everywhere!
Comic Book Resources gave us a great review this morning.
Diamond Gallery's SCOOP has a nice write up on the forthcoming return of CREEPY COMICS from Dark Horse. I've written a very twisted little tale that will be serialized through the first three issues of the series entitled, THE CURSE. The art by Jason Shawn Alexander is gorgeously disturbing.
CREEPY COMICS #1 comes out this Wednesday, 7/15. You can pre-order a copy online.
I'll post more on the San Diego Comic-con CREEPY panel and signing later.
Dark Horse has announced CREEPY COMICS #1 will be out this July 15th. I've been writing a twisted little three-part story which will run through the first few issues titled, THE CURSE. Jason Shawn Alexander is supplying painted artwork... Eric Powell is painting the cover... and check out the rest of the incredible artist lineup!
I'm very excited to get this out there. This book is going to be gorgeous.
From DarkHorse.com:
What's black and white and clawing its way onto your reading list? It's the newly resurrected Creepy, of course! Now, don't fret, my putrid pets -- these new terror tales are cut from the same cursed cloth as the outlandish originals, telling contemporary horror stories with gorgeously ghoulish art from a lineup that'll make you lose your head! Original Creepy artist Angelo Torres teams up with devilish Dan Braun on "Hell Hound Blues"; Michael Woods and artist Saskia Gutekunst serve up a dose of "Chemical 13"; Neil Kleid and Brian Churilla provide "All the Help You Need" at a weird weight-loss camp; and jaundiced Jason Shawn Alexander brings his phenomenal painting skills to Joe Harris's "The Curse"! Plus Bernie Wrightson, the return of "Loathsome Lore," and more. All this, plus one classic story from Uncle Creepy's dank dungeon, and you've got 48 freakish pages of terror to bring home to mummy!
Publication Date: July 15, 2009
Format: b&w, 48 pages
Price: $4.99
UPC: 7 61568 15862 5 00111
And don't forget Eric's limited alternate cover:
Jose Ladronn discusses his painted covers for the BATMAN: BATTLE FOR THE COWL one-shots at Comic Book Resources (including MAN-BAT, written by yours truly).
IGN has a great interview with editor Mike Marts regarding the BATMAN: BATTLE FOR THE COWL event, including some insights into the MAN-BAT one shot I'm doing with Jim Calafiore.
DC Solicits have leaked out. IGN has the rundown of the rest of the BATMAN: BATTLE FOR THE COWL event following Batman's apparent death in the R.I.P. and FINAL CRISIS storylines.
I love Man-Bat. I think he's Batman's dark reflection, monstrous yet sympathetic, lost and dangerous but well-meaning, noble and in possession of immense power, rage and pain.
Jim Calafiore's artwork is stunning. We're going for dark and gritty here. Man-Bat is an outcast. He doesn't play well with others. And dark, disturbing things seem to follow wherever he goes.
And ain't that Jose Ladron cover sweet?
I have been neglecting my blog but I've had really, really good reasons to be spotty with the updates (honest!).
2008 was a transition year for me. Over the course of my career as a storyteller, I've written big company comics for Marvel, written studio horror films, had the #1 movie in America, launched books near the top of the Diamond listings, made shorts, gone on strike with the WGA and returned to comics with a slew of new projects on the horizon. I have come full circle and feel incredibly comfortable, self-possessed, wise and hungry to kick some ass in 2009.
Coming off the heels of last year's successful JOKER'S ASYLUM event at DC Comics, I've written a bunch of new Batman projects -- one of which should be solicited in the next Previews in support of a certain "Battle" for a certain superhero's "Cowl". It features a highly underused and richly Gothic and dark member of Batman's mythos and I'm hopeful it's the first of many stories I'll get to tell featuring him.
I'm also involved in horror comic launches at a couple of other publishers which I believe will be public knowledge by the time New York Comic-con rolls around next month. Very cool stuff. I'm absolutely thrilled.
My first creator-owned book for Oni Press, the Russian-set supernatural thriller GHOST PROJEKT is currently in production. Steve Rolston is currently drawing the first issue while I race to finish the script for #2. We are hopeful we'll be launching at this summer's San Diego Comic-con. My other original book, the stoner-adventure titled, THE HASHISHIAN is in the works as well. Watch this space in the coming months for updates on both of these projects.
So, in short, 2008 is dead and in the ground. We elected a transformational figure to the Presidency, won a Super Bowl here in New York and I've really set some plans in motion for the coming months and years. I'm pretty sure some other stuff happened over the past year... but those were the highlights as I saw them.
More to come. Thanks for listening, reading, watching, etc.
A couple of trade paperback collections of some of my past comics work have been released recently.
Marvel has reprinted my X-MEN: THE SEARCH FOR CYCLOPS mini-series in the latest volume of their X-MEN vs. APOCALYPSE books. Illustrated by the great Tom Raney, with alternate covers by Adam Pollina), this book was a big deal when it came out if memory serves. Good to see it back in print.
Across town, DC has collected last year's well received JOKER'S ASYLUM mini. I wrote the fourth installment featuring SCARECROW with Juan Doe supplying the super cool art. Jason Aaron, David Hine and many other talented people contributed stories featuring Penguin, Joker, Two-Face and other colorful members of Batman's famous rogues gallery to this series.
JOKER'S ASYLUM comes out on December 16th, just in time for the holiday shopping crush. The perfect entertainment purchase in this maddening economy.
There's a new interview with Stuart Moore and myself discussing the process of putting together THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY series of graphic novels.
An excerpt:
O'Shea: How has screenwriting influenced your approach toward the comics medium (if at all) and vice versa?
Harris: Honestly, I think my ambitions to direct more influence my comic scripts more than the actual screenwriting does. When writing comics, I set out to direct the movie on paper. I love the collaboration with my artists. I tend to view them as both my cast and cinematographer. When the partnership is good, the only thing I appreciate more than an incredible depiction of the panel just as I saw it is an artist's rendition that brings something out of the panel, the page, book, etc. that I never saw coming. But make no mistake. I'm sitting in my mental director's chair while curled up at my desk and scripting the book. My scripts direct the camera and the actors and I'm cutting the movie in my head while shooting the entire time.
THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY has been awarded the 2008 International Horror Guild Award for "Best Illustrated Narrative". Heidi has more on The Beat.
Congratulations to Stuart, Colleen, Michael, Ted, Ben, Heidi and Eric. We just released VOLUME TWO which is an even better package of these elegantly adapted, disturbingly frightening tales. And thanks to author Thomas Ligotti for his support and prodigiously wonderful body of work to pick from.
The complete list of winners and finalists can be found on IHG's site.
AICN Comics has a short review of THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY, VOL. 2 up today. An excerpt:
Hopefully, those of you who entered and won the NIGHTMARE FACTORY Contest we ran a few weeks back have received their prizes and will agree with me that there's some spooky poop-smack in this book. Writers Stuart Moore and Joe Harris do a great job of cutting through all of the wordiness in exchange for upping the scare quotient while adapting these tales of terror from horror novelist Thomas Ligotti. But the thing that impressed me most about this book is how many amazing artists show up to lend their eerie stylings for this book.
Go. Buy. I want there to be a Volume 3.
My collaborator on "The Clown Puppet" story in the Fox Atomic/Harper Collins graphic novel, THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY, VOL. 2, Bill Sienkiewicz, Stuart Moore and myself will be appearing at Jim Hanley's Universe here in New York City on October 29th.
I expect there might be a crowd to see Bil. Come join.
We shameless, godless liberals in the comics industry have a community for supporting Barack Obama.
I haven't unlocked the full, true use yet. But I like using the avatar on my Facebook page. And the mug I just ordered from their Zazzle store looks nice.
The guys at "Arrow in the Head" on JoBlo.com have posted a fantastic review of THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY, VOL. 2.
So proud of how this edition turned out.
The book came out today and Harper's has a "Browse Inside" preview up. Click through and check it out.
Heidi MacDonald, all-knowing comics chronicler (and NIGHTMARE FACTORY editrix) has posted another preview page from the upcoming THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY, VOL. 2 graphic novel which drops this Tuesday.
Check out this killer page by Vasilis. Beware the Showman!
Just like last year, Ain't It Cool News is running a giveaway contest to promote the release of our forthcoming graphic novel, THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY VOL. 2.
Check it out!
I can't believe the second of these graphic novels is actually being released already, but here we go. THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY Vol. 2 comes out this tuesday, 9/2. Once again, Stuart Moore and I adapted a total of four frightening and disturbingly cerebral horror tales by Thomas Ligotti. Fox Atomic Comics and Harper Collins are great with the promotion of these books and an exclusive preview just went up on MySpace Comic Books:
"Vasilis Lolos mesmerizes in the second volume of THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY!"
It's an excerpt of a very eerie story called "Gas Station Carnivals" that was a lot of fun to adapt. With art like this, you can understand why...
Just realized an interview with artist Juan Doe is up at Wizarduniverse.com discussing our recent DC collaboration, "The Joker's Asylum: Scarecrow".
Also, be sure to check out "Juan Doe On... How He Puts a Page Together" for some fun insight into the process.
We announced my first two creator-owned comics titles at the San Diego Comic-con's Oni Press panel this past weekend. Newsarama has the details, but I wanted to elaborate a bit.
I've had a journey, from Marvel mainstay on both Spidey and X-books (if you remember these, wonderful, but I can't bring myself to flashback in this post), to horror movie Hollywood and back again. Oni seems to get what I'm about and what I'm trying to do. I've been blessed to have two incredibly talented co-conspirators and am ecstatic to bring my first original comics to the fore.
First up for me is GHOST PROJEKT (illustrated by Steve Rolston).
The story takes place in the former Soviet Union and revolves around the idea that during the Cold War, the Soviets experimented with all sorts of weapons of mass destruction, including the supernatural.
An American weapons inspector discovers a project that involved the Soviets trying to weaponize ghosts that "went horribly wrong," Harris said. It's due in late 2009 or early 2010.The series will mark Steve's first color work for Oni and is going to be a tense, action-packed thriller with some very creepy moments of horror. I'm writing it now and can't wait to get this out.
The second title we announced is THE HASHISHIAN, an original graphic novel with former DC and Bat-books artist, Trevor McCarthy.
Harris said the name comes from a sect of assassins during the Crusades who were sent out to perform assassinations "drugged out of their minds," Harris said.
"But that's not exactly what our story is about," he added. It's about two Brooklyn stoners who find a magical stash of marijuana, and when they smoke it, "they have flashbacks to the 12th century where these characters were alive and well and doing their duty," he said. The owner of the pot, one of these 12th century assassins, shows up and hunts them down to reclaim his pot - later they learn he's there to assassinate the president.I love stoner buddy movies in the Cheech and Chong tradition. I look forward to Pineapple Express like few others. But I've never seen anyone do with the genre what we're trying to pull off here. I've been describing this as a sort of "Harold & Kumar meets The Bourne Identity" with a serious action/adventure bent and some subversive politics thrown in for good measure to go along with the drug comedy.
I've had the idea for THE HASHISHIAN percolating in the back of my head for a very long time and I can't tell you how excited I am to finally be telling this story.
My new book, THE JOKER'S ASYLUM: SCARECROW is out today and IGN has a free five-page preview online. Check it out.
I'll be joining the big Oni Press panel this Saturday at Comic-con to announce not one, but two new, original comics I'll be writing and releasing through Oni next year. I've been working (along with my talented co-conspirators) to get these projects going for a while now and I'm very excited to get the news out.
SDCC has the following description of the Oni Panel in their programming guide:
5:00-6:00 Oni Press Panelmonium 2008!-- The most fun you'll ever have at a panel! See what all the hubbub is about at indy comics powerhouse Oni Press. Get sneak peeks at upcoming projects, news on new Oni Press initiatives, and Q&A with some of your favorite Oni Press creators. Oh, and did we mention prizes? There's going to be prizes and free comics, so come one, come all! It's panda--er, Panelmonium! Room 3
I'll be attending the San Diego Comic-con this coming weekend with a bit of news breaking on not one, but three original comics titles as the con rolls on.
At least I hope so! The run up to Comic-con is always comprised of half the time needed to get everything I want to get done done and getting all the business stuff done before this weekend is going to be a Herculean effort.
But watch this space. Very excited about what's been happening in the background over these past few months...
A new interview to support THE JOKER'S ASYLUM: SCARECROW is up on the one and only Newsarama, old friends and supporters of mine from way, way back.
Can't wait for this book to drop. On sale everywhere July 23rd.
It has been a while, I think, since I've been on Newsarama. Feels good being back in the swing.
There's a new interview with me up at Comic Book Resources discussing my upcoming THE JOKER'S ASYLUM: SCARECROW. The book drops on July 23rd.
Check it out, won't you?
Editrix Heidi MacDonald unveiled the upcoming THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY Volume 2 on her comics news blog, The Beat on Thursday. Good, excited hype for this book. We're all very proud of the work and look forward to its release this fall.
We were handing out this promo card at the New York Comic-Con last weekend, so I guess the cat is out of the bag. Just like the first volume from Fox Atomic Comics and Harper Collins, I've written two stories based on the works of Thomas Ligotti:
"Gas Station Carnivals" with Vasilis Lolos illustrating and "The Clown Puppet" with the legendary Bill Sienkiewicz!
I'm very excited for this book's release. The first volume of THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY was beautiful and I learned a lot while making it. This new collection is going to be top-shelf fucking stellar.
Painted cover by Jon Foster!
I'll be signing copies of THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY graphic novel with the wonderfully talented Stuart Moore, Coleen Doran and Michael Gaydos.
We'll be at the HARPER COLLINS booth (#1814)
New books! The new Previews for July have been released and my new Batman book is listed. We're spotlighting SCARECROW in a special BATMAN "fifth week" event. Super-talented artist Juan Doe and I present a horrific take on the Master of Fear, blending everything I love about both 80s slasher films and 80s teen movies like HEATHERS and THE BREAKFAST CLUB into one twisted tale examining Queen Bees, slumber parties, masked maniacs and the nature of fear.
From the Diamond Solicits:
I'm really pleased with how this book has turned out...
I'm going to be attending the hometown convention this weekend at the Jacob Javits Center here in New York City.
We'll be promoting THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY with a signing at the Fox Atomic Comics booth. I'll post the time later this week.
I'm also hopeful we'll be able to make a very, very cool announcement regarding a VOLUME TWO... as well as who my esteemed and talented collaborators are.
Bookslut has a list and THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY is on it.
Hey... somebody should put together a VOLUME 2 of that stuff.
Hmmm... wonder if they will...
:)
God, Pollina and I did this GENERATION X HOLIDAY SPECIAL (Or, as Bill O'Reilly would characterize -- our "War on Christmas Special") back in 1998. I still remember the look on Marvel editorial's faces when I pitched them the idea that, in the Marvel Universe, Santa didn't only exist... he was also a mutant.
Fun memories...
Eric Lieb and Heidi MacDonald talk with CRB about putting together THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY graphic novel, illuminating the process of selecting the four short stories we eventually included, the hiring of artists thought to be ideal for each, etc.
AICN Comics is having a contest wherein people describe their worst nightmares for a chance to win a copy of THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY graphic novel.
RSS Feed
