Tony @ Fanboy Radio...

So yesterday I was a guest on U.S Phenom radio show Fanboy Radio. It was a pre-recorded show, which meant that I was woken up at some ungodly time in the evening/morning to be my usual erudite and witty self. I don't think they were expecting incoherent mumbling...

Anyway, the podcast of yesterday's show is now available HERE - feel free to download and worship me mercilessly. On it I discuss comedy and the BBC, branding, Markosia, how to pitch me at a convention, Hope Falls, Starship Troopers and Midnight Kiss. I also (once more) talk about how I got into comics...

Also, following the announcement in the show - I've already had a couple of emails relating to this - yes, Dodge & Twist has a publisher and a creative team - It's AiT/PlanetLar, it's looking at late 2007/early 2008, drawn by 2000ad star Paul Peart and will be about 144 odd pages.

With The Gloom in October and Hope Falls in November, it's going to be an interesting New Year...

Leinil Yu is killing!

Leinil Yu is doing fantastic work on Fallen Son: Wolverine. He's really becoming one of my favorite comic artists lately. Anyone that knows me knows that I'm not a hardcore superhero fan, but with Michael Lark doing Daredevil and Leinel Yu doing Wolverine, it looks like my superhero pull list is starting to thicken up.

Here's the blurb from Newsarama:
"CIVIL WAR: FALLEN SON: THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA - WOLVERINE
Written by JEPH LOEB
Penciled LEINIL YU
Cover by MICHAEL TURNER
How will Wolverine react to the death of one the most beloved characters in the Marvel Universe? He ain't buyin' in! Join Logan as he tries to track down the truth and he's not going to be happy when he does! The secret story that will transverse the post Civil War landscape – and stars Marvel’s most popular characters – begins here! How do people with amazing powers face a force that no one can fight? Who has fallen, and is more violence coming? With Wolverine on the scene, is there any question? Be there as superstar Jeph Loeb teams with the industry’s top artists on a story that will have everyone talking! Loeb! Leinil! Logan!

Kody's rundown

First off, the passing of Drew Hayes (Poison Elves) - an online friend from the old Wizard section on AOL, Drew helped me a lot via internet chats when I was just starting to send out comic samples back in the early 90's. He'll be missed.

Inspiration: Bill Sienkiewicz on Fanboy Radio, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser - finally, the Drink and Draw Social Club hard cover book, The ModBook - got to play with one of these at WizardWorld LA 2007, Pandora.com - essential tunes for hanging out at the drawing table, Harry Potter comic buzz,

Reading: Brubaker and Lark on Daredevil, Brubaker and Phillips on Criminal, Azzarello and Rizzo 100 Bullets trades.

More coming soon.

Read Impaler # 1 -- For Free

Newsarama has posted Impaler # 1 online. If you haven't read it yet, here's your chance!

Issues 1 -3 are on sale now:
Impaler # 1: Diamond order code: AUG06 1734
Impaler # 2: Diamond order code: SEP06 1820
Impaler # 3: Diamond order code:OCT06 1875

And this is what the critics are saying about Impaler:

“The story is masterfully plotted to crescendo in each issue, teasing and tempting the reader to come back for more…this is a great read.”–Ain’t It Cool News

“Impaler deftly restores the bloodsuckers—and their figurehead, Vlad Dracula—to absolutely epic creatures-of-the-night. Buy this book, or I’ll cancel your Rue Morgue subscription!”–Rue Morgue Magazine

“Impaler begins a new ongoing at Image that, one hopes, can do for vampires what The Walk*ing Dead did for zombies.”–Cinescape, Rating: A

“Dark, foreboding and a great read.”–IGN Comics, Rating: Must Read

“Writer William Harms gives us what might be the freshest reinterpretation of the vampire mythos in years…the impending bloodfest over the coming issues promises to be spectacular.”–Metro (Toronto), Rating: 4 Stars (out of 4)

ND Comics Magazine launching in July 2007

Looks like a new Indy (ND, get it?) comic magazine is set to launch this summer. I love magazines, and I probably buy way more than I should. But when it comes to comics the selection is fairly thin. From what I've seen from ND Comics Magazine, it looks like it may fill the gap between Wizard and The Comics Journal. They're currently doing a subscription drive to generate a little buzz and revenue, and I'll be chipping in for a few issues to give it a test drive. Here's the official blurb from the ND Comics Magazine website: "ND Comics Magazine is dedicated to helping the independent comic creator and/or small press publisher find your audience. Our dedication to our readers is to provide up to date coverage of your favorite indie comics as well as introduce you to new indie books. ND is the best value for affordable print advertising as our readers are indie comics fans who are looking for info about indie comics."

WizardWorld LA is only a week away!

WizardWorld Los Angeles is only a week away, so if you're planning to make it to the con please drop by Artists Alley table # 2202!

I'll be there all weekend showing new stuff and maybe a few things to sell. Hope to see you there.

PUNKS: The free preview!

DIGITAL WEBBING JAM 2007—FCBD EDITION
by Various
Showcasing the full line of Digital Webbing comics with brand-new and re-mastered short stories featuring the popular BloodRayne (based on the video game character), the iconic E-Man, also including cult favorites Fist of Justice and Zombie Highway! Plus, get sneak peeks at upcoming titles Crazy Mary, and Joshua Fialkov and Kody Chamberlain's Punks! All encased within a must-have wraparound jam cover by their respective artists!
32pgs, B&W FREE

Please note that this is an "original" Punks story that will NOT appear in the regular issues of the upcoming comic. And it's in full color! Don't miss out on the very first "FREE" appearance of these characters, or you might find yourself paying 40 bucks for a copy on eBay. So please, drop by your local comic book store and ask them to pre-order this book!

> Info on Free Comic Book Day on the official site
> Find a comic shop with ComicShopLocator.com

Impaler in Wizard

Impaler gets a nice plug in the current issue of Wizard (#186). In the Wizard Edge section, 40 of the top indy books are discussed, and Impaler comes in at # 5.

The first three issues of Impaler are on sale now!

Shout Out: Jackie Karma

Been digging on the Jackie Karma promo stuff B. Clay Moore is posting on his LiveJournal. Really looking forward to checking this one out. Art by the very skilled Ed Tadem.

Clean, simple & professional

I spotted the MacGuffin (The Graphic Novel Bookshop) blog today and I was really impressed with the store photos. The idea is simple, the store looks clean and well organized and it's got a specific focus, graphic novels. Comic shops are awesome, but they tend to cater to a very specific audience. This type of graphic novel bookstore is a great variation on the theme.

WizardWorld LA 2007

Booked my flight and table for the WizardWorld LA convention in a few weeks. The Artists Alley list is getting HUGE. Here's a peek at the list so far, and I'm told there are more updates coming soon [James Abrams, Kei Acedera, Jerry Ahern, Aaron Akagi, Jonnie Allan, J. Andrew Clark, Ray-Anthony Height, Adam Archer, Erik Arreaga, Joseph Atkinson, Richard Barrett, Joe Benitez, Ryan Benjamin, Jeff Bennett, Rich Birdsall, Khalid Birdsong, Tim Bithoney, Matthew Bojangles aka Marine, Tim Bradstreet, Andrew Brennan aka Stardusty, Mark Brooks, David Bullock, Buzz, Adam Byrne, Talent Caldwell, Eric Canete, Tom Carroll aka Mr. Mustard Seed, Mac Carter, Kody Chamberlain, Bernard Chang, Sean “Cheeks” Galloway, Sean Chen, Ben Chin, Bobby Chin, Eddy Choi, DJ Coffman, David Colman, Amanda Conner, Jerrell Conner, Derek Croston aka kitsunekage, Carlos D'Anda (Saturday Only), Peter David, Walt Davis, Kirk Dilbeck, Robert Duenas, David Finch, Jason Fitch, Tess Fowler, Zac Freudt aka Zac, Joe Gabbard, Alé Garza, Angelo Gines, Gomez, Joel Gomez, Trevor Goring, Christian Gossett, Shawn Granger aka Mr. Granger, Christopher Grice, Erich Haeger, Javier Hernandez, Sandra Hope, Greg Horn, Zach Howard, Dave Johnson, Jeff Johnson, JJ Kirby, Mike Laico, Dan Leister, Henry Liao, Todd Livingston, Pat Loika, Alan Ly, David Mack, Jim Mahfood, Dennis Mallonee, Jason Martin, Brett Marting, Mike Mayhew, Chris Maze, Angel Medina, Mendoza, Joshua Middleton, Matthew Mohammed, Patrick Morgan, Yelena Morozenko, Sean Murphy, David Nakayama, Mat Nastos, Todd Nauck, Kadir Nelson, Dustin Nguyen, Oliver Nome, Andre Owens, Jason Palmer, Jimmy Palmiotti, Dan Panosian, Chris Pate, John Paul Leon, Philip Peralez, Omaha Perez, Brian Phillipson, Rochelle Phister, Whilce Portacio, Humberto Ramos, Joseph Rintoul aka Wingnut, James Riot aka MrRiot, Matt Roberts, Enrique Robledo, Tone Rodriguez, Alberto Ruiz, A. S. Williams aka Vindibudd, Mark Sable, Tim Sale, Michael Sales, Tony Salmons, Boris Savic, Stuart Sayger, J. Scott Campbell, Barret Shikuma, Bill Sienkiewicz, Stephen Silver, Erick Sosa, Beth Sotelo, Christina Strain, Winston Suk, Phillip Tan, Jon Tavss, Art Thibert, Billy Tucci, Ernesto Vazquez, Gus Vazquez, Ray Villafane, Mark Walters, Mark Walters, Len Wein, Dan Wickline, Bill Willingham, Chris Winsia, Dire Wolf, Mark Wolfe, Marv Wolfman, Dave Wong, Kristin Wosar aka Green Tangerine, Charles Yang, Skottie Young, Doug Zolondek]

Should be a great con! I'll have art from a few new unannounced projects to show, and I'll make sure I work up a new sketchbook. Who's coming?

Bloodbourne... In colour...

So - the first six coloured pages of the book Szymon (30 Days Of Night, Scatterbrain) Kudranski and I have been working on - Bloodbourne - Bite Of The Living Dead are now up and available to read at my ComicSpace Gallery.

Yours truly did the lettering, so don't expect genius, and the logo is a place holder until someone can design us a better one, but I think this is some of the most beautiful stuff that Szymon has ever done.

Anyway, have a look, let us know what you think.

Now all we need is a publisher for it...

Three Rivers

Three Rivers is the follow up to Elk's Run by Noel Tuazon and myself. Where Elk's Run dealt with isolation and loneliness, Three Rivers is about growing up in the seat of modern civilization... the suburbs.

It's a bit scary how similar they are.

The plan for right now is to put up a new chapter every month for free, with access to the archive for a buck a month.

In that archive, you can also access a bunch of my early mini-comics, comics by Noel, and some of my Western Tales of Terror stories.

So, please, check out the first part of the book, and let us know what you think!

Some sketchbook stuff

I dropped some sketchbook stuff up on my message board, these were done on a cruise Kristie and I took a few weeks ago.

These were all done with pencil, the Pentel Color Brush, a single small tube of brown watercolor paint (I think it was burnt sienna) and a water filled Pentel Color Brush that I emptied an cleaned out. Some pen stuff here and there on a few edges.

Had a blast doing these, and it was great to just have some free-form sketch time that wasn't work related. See the whole set on my message board.

Unravel #1 in Previews

New Shadowline Miniseries Continues Crime Comics Renaissance

BERKELEY, CA -- 19 January, 2007 -- The crime comic renaissance started by Warren Ellis's FELL, Ed Brubaker's CRIMINAL and Michael Avon Oeming's THE CROSS BRONX continues this April UNRAVEL ­ an all-new four-issue miniseries from Image Comics and Shadowline.

Written by Dan Wickline with art by Homeros Gilani, UNRAVEL begins with a stormy night foot pursuit through Central Park that leaves Officer Lindsey Shaw at the mercy of an amnesiac stranger. Attempts to identify the mystery man point to a connection with a decade-old cold case murder that is not only unlikely, but seemingly impossible. Thrust into a case where nothing makes sense, Shaw must figure out how her case ties to a man killed while in police custody and then convicted posthumously of murder.

"Lindsay comes from a long line of NYPD police officers," explains Wickline. "It's in her blood. She trusts her gut and takes the risks necessary to get the job done. The problem is that the case she's working on is unlike any she's ever seen. She's forced to look at everything ­ and everyone ­ she trusts differently. Even herself."

Featuring twists, turns, shady characters, deceptions and people trying to do good in the worst of circumstances, UNRAVEL gives fans of crime comics exactly what they want and is certain to keep readers guessing all the way through to the end.

UNRAVEL #1 (FEB071880), a 32-page comic with a cover price of $3.50 ships, is available for order in the March issue of Diamond Previews, with a ship date of APRIL 25.

Will Eisner: The Spirit of an Artistic Pioneer

The Will Eisner (more info on wiki) documentary called "Will Eisner: The Spirit of an Artistic Pioneer" trailer is online.

Fialkov writes Vampirella & More

Hey Gang,
These updates are becoming monthly almost. Just a quick heads up. In Previews this month, you can find my first issue of a brand new Vampirella series from Harris Comics. The book is a quarterly ongoing, featuring a brand new story by me, with art by the excellent Stephen Segovia, and a classic reprint by Archie Goodwin and Jose Gonzalez. I'm not sure how many of y'all have given Vampi a chance, but, she's really a pretty unique character and it's been a blast writing her. So, please, pre-order the first issue at your Local Comic Shop. The Diamond Order # is FEB07 3130 (there's a few covers, and you can find them all on page 224.)

Secondly, it was just announced that PUNKS will finally make it's print debut in the Free Comic Book Day edition of Digital Webbing Presents. This is going to be an all-new, never before seen story, and it'll come complete with info about the destiny of the book. So, y'know, it's free, just let your shop owner know you'd want a copy of it.

Finally, recently put up on Amazon are a few of my books for pre-order. First, of course is Elk's Run, which comes out in March. Next is Postcards, which if you somehow have missed, is an amazing anthology featuring guys like Harvey Pekar, Michael Gaydos, and Phil Hester. Not exactly sure how I conned my way in there. Finally, a manga I adapted called Princess Resurrection is going to be coming out any month now. I adapted the 1st and 2nd book in the series, with more to come, so please check it out.

So, that's all she wrote. Take care of yourselves, and thanks for reading.

--
Joshua Hale Fialkov
www.joshuahalefialkov.com
www.hoarseandbuggy.com

Unravel Interview at Broken Frontiers

Frederik Hautain over at Broken Frontiers interviewed Homeros and I about our new Shadowline/Image mini-series UNRAVEL. We talk about the new wave of crime comics and how to keep them unique.

Stop by and take a look.

http://www.brokenfrontier.com/lowdown/details.php?id=659

IT'S ONLY A COMIC LIVES ON!

VAGUE PRESS RELEASE TYPE THING

IT'S ONLY A COMIC LIVES ON!

For several years now, international comic wunderkind Tony Lee has been wowing the world with his critically acclaimed column, 'It's Only A Comic'. From the humble beginnings at silverbulletcomics.com, to the critical success (and minor abuse) that he has recieved with the more recent regular monthly column in Comics International, he has constantly amused his audience with tales like 'the fan who stared at my penis', or 'when I got stuck in JFK overnight with a scary man.' Oh, I chuckle to even type this.

But times again are changing. With the sale of Comics International and the resignation of Dez Skinn as editor, Tony sat down with new editor Mike Conroy and, after a long discussion decided to part ways.

'We started with the traditional bantering of insults, followed by the giving of midgets.' Tony explained. 'But in the end it was decided that as I was some hoity-toity Markosia person now, I might find myself conflicting shomehow. I might start pimping my own stuff. Like I hadn't already. I mean, come on, does anyone there read my column? I spent half a column talking about Tales of Midnight for Christs sake!'

But with Dez now gone, Tony felt that it was indeed time to move on, as the restraints that a new editor would put on his column would contradict with Dez's earlier edict of 'F*ck it, let's make the buggers squirm.'

But fans of It's Only a Comic need not fear, for within hours of the news being released that Tony was now unemployed (again - does this guy ever hold down a job?), Craig Johnston of Silver Bullet Comicbooks, home of 'All The Rage', 'Fool Britannia', The Panel' and other sites that aren't by Tony's friends offered him his own bi-weekly column.

'I was drunk by this point.' Explained Tony. 'I mean, it was past 11am, you know? I need to drink a quart a day or my eyes bleed. Anyway by the time I was sober I had a new site, a new logo, a new column - and a new sidekick.'

That new sidekick is miniscule supervixen Daniel 'Viscount Du'Lamange' Boultwood, who SBC felt was integral for the column.

'He stares at us.' Said Craig Johnson from Silver Bullet Comic Books. 'Like a little puppet dressed in 40's clothing. And he never speaks. Sometimes he cries, or touches his teddy in inopportune places. The guy's not right. He scared us into putting him on the ticket.'

'I'll be writing a column every other Monday.' Tony continued. 'That way I have the weekend before to smack Dan out of his Meth-filled state and cobble some old bollocks together. I'm sure it'll be brilliant.'

With a ninja guaranteed in every article, Tony promises to keep the standards of his new column as low as humanly possible.

'I have no earthly idea what the hell we shall be talking about.' He finished. 'But it'll be, um, interesting.'

It's Only A Comic will be up at Silver Bullet Comicbooks every alternate Monday from the 5th of February 2007. If you have any questions, or wish to be mentioned or interviewed by Tony (with the occasional assistance of Dan) - then email them on itsonlyacomic@gmail.com.

Phoenix Comic-Con This Weekend

I will be attending this years Phoenix Cactus Comic Con. This weekend (Jan 26th -28th) at the Mesa Convention Center.

Guest include Mike Mignola, George Perez, Angel Median, Eric Balsuda, Howard Chaykin, Tone Rodriguez and many more.

I will have copies of 30 Days of Night: Spreading the Disease 1 & 2 along with a few other things for you to look at.

For more information, go to this link: http://www.phoenixcomicon.com/

Come on out and say "hi"!