LIVE FROM CRUSH PALACE

Happy Valentine's Day from Ares & Aphrodite!

Yes, we know that the actual high holy day is not until this weekend, but this is also to celebrate the digital finale of the first volume over on Comixology. Have you read it yet?

Megan Levens and I are excited to have this book out in the world at last. 

Here's something to listen to while you read. Gigi quotes this song in an earlier chapter, in a way that is as much a threat as a promise. :)

Current Soundtrack: Karen O, Live from Crush Palace

TRUE LOVE WILL FIND YOU IN THE END...OF ARES & APHRODITE

The digital edition of Ares & Aphrodite wraps up this Tuesday. You can get that and previous chapters from Comixology.

Needless to say, this gallery previewing that sixth installment has spoilers. If you've not been reading, scroll through at your own peril.

I was surprised with a first-look advance copy of the actual printed comic this week. It came out gorgeous! Hilary Thompson at Oni Press really did a marvelous job bringing it together. And I think Megan's colors look even better on paper.

And remember, when this bad boy comes out in April, it has a bonus story, process material, and an afterword not available in the serialization.

Current Soundtrack: Cornershop, Hold On It's Easy

LOVE IS MORE THAN WEDDING DAY...

...but today is the day in Ares & Aphrodite when we find out who wins the bet, Will or Gigi. Is this particular knot about to get tied?

It's the penultimate chapter. You're going to know how this whole little romance turns out next week, just in time for Valentine's!

Download Ares & Aphrodite #5 now.

Scroll through the preview below. 

The printed book is out in April. Order it now.

Current Soundtrack: The Charlatans, Modern Nature

SO MUCH FOR THE CITY

You can now grab Ares & Aphrodite chapter 3 from Comixology. Preview gallery below.

Thought, technically, it's chapters 5 and 6, since the digital versions have two chapters each. With their own special titles, even.

Major Spoilers has been giving the book a lot of great coverage, including:

* A new interview with Megan Levens 

* Chapter 1 review

* Chapter 2 review

Don't forget to tell you favorite retailer to order you the print edition in April. Details here.

Megan's first issue of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 10 also goes on sale tomorrow from Dark Horse Comics. You can see a full preview at Comic Book Resources, ut here is a quick tease.

Current Soundtrack: The Thrills, So Much for the City

FEEL RIGHT

Chapter 2 of Ares & Aphrodite hit Comixology today. 

The book is written by me, with art by Megan Levens, and lettering by Crank.

Published by Oni Press.

If you dig romantic comedies with a little bit of mystery, then this is the book for you. Published weekly through Valentine's Day digitally, with a print version in April.

Scroll through the gallery below for a preview.

Current Soundtrack: Mark Ronson, Uptown Special

APRIL COME SHE WILL

Comics Should Be Good have been really swell to my books lately. Their four-part write-up of Joëlle's work, their review of Lady Killer, and now their "Flippin' through Previews" column has chosen Ares & Aphrodite: Love Wars as one of their top choices from the new Diamond catalogue.

Jamie S. Rich is a sucker for romances, so on page 358 we find Ares & Aphrodite, a new graphic novel by him and Megan Levens from Oni. Like a lot of romantic comedies, it sounds painful on the surface – there’s a bet between an attractive divorce lawyer and a cute wedding planner (no points for guessing which is the male and which is the female) and there’s a wedding to plan, confound it! Yes, it sounds fluffy, but Rich really good at writing romances, and Levens is a pretty good artist, so I’m checking this out. (15 April)

Read all of their picks now.

Current Soundtrack: The Colbert Report (December 1, 2014 episode)

BRING IT ON HOME AND DROP THEM GUNS ON THE FLOOR

We have a final cover for Ares and Aphrodite: Love Wars, my romance graphic novel with Megan Levens.

The comic, which Megan is finishing the coloring on right now, will start being serialized on Comixology in January, and then Oni Press will publish the book edition in April.

Here is the marketing copy:

Will Ares, a successful divorce lawyer, find himself working alongside Gigi Averelle, a wedding planner, when their respective clients - movie producer Evans Beatty and Hollywood starlet Carrie Cartwright - plan to marry. As Beatty's ex-wives come out of the woodwork to cause mayhem, Gigi and Will make a bet - Gigi agrees to go on a date with Will if Evans and Carrie really do go through with the wedding. Should they break up, however, Will must reveal, in a full-page newspaper ad, how many marriages he's ruined. Is Will a fool for love, or is this the start of a beautiful relationship?

Current Soundtrack: Jim Bob, A Humpty Dumpty Thing

FROM THE OLDEST SWINGER IN TOWN...

Just proofed the script for Ares & Aphrodite one last time before sending it to Crank! to letter. It's been a year, I forgot how much I really like these characters.

Megan Levens posted this sneak peek image of the female lead, Gigi Averelle, on Facebook yesterday. The coloring has begun!

Current Soundtrack: The Beautiful South, "Let Love Speak Up Itself (BBC Session - Emma Freud 28/3/94"

LOVE WARS

Oni Press has announced their upcoming slate of titles for the next twelve months or so. Lots of great stuff, check out the whole thing right here.

In amongst the list is mine and Megan Levens’ romantic comedy Ares & Aphrodite, which she is drawing and coloring. We are chasing the classic horror style of Madame Frankenstein with our ode to the rom-coms of golden-age Hollywood.  The official description is below the image:

ARES & APHRODITE
2015

A new original graphic novel by Jamie S. Rich and Megan Levens! Will Ares is a successful divorce lawyer — which means, invariably, that he’s always pissing someone off. He’s also a hopeless romantic (go figure). Gigi Averelle is a wedding planner who’s seen enough failed marriages to know that true love doesn’t exist. And with their respective clients — movie producer Evans Beatty and Hollywood starlet Carrie Cartwright — getting hitched, Will and Gigi are about to see a whole lot more of each other. As Beatty’s ex-wives come out of the woodwork and cause mayhem for the upcoming marriage, Gigi proposes a bet — should Evans and Carrie go through with the wedding, Gigi will go on a date with Will. Should they break up, as Gigi suspects, Will must put a full-page ad in the paper revealing the number of marriages he’s ruined. Is Will a fool for love, or is this the start of a beautiful relationship? 

*

Current Soundtrack: my This is My Jam feed