YASS BISH!!

It's finally here. Madame Frankenstein #1 is finally available for folks to read.

I can't thank the fans, critics, and retail community enough for the support this book has gotten. It's been such a thrill seeing people get excited for our series. Megan and I both appreciate it more than we can say.

Megan wrote a little about it herself at her blog, and I am sure she will thank you herself if you head down to her signing at Earth-2 in Sherman Oaks later today. Details in the link, or here on the Facebook event page.

Big Comic Page dropped an awesome review on us last night, too, giving us a 4 out of 5.

If you ever thought Pygmalion would have been improved by Eliza Doolittle being a reanimated corpse, this is the comic for you. As far as I’m concerned, there’s not many stories that reanimated corpses wouldn’t improve, so I’m all over this.

Read the whole thing.

We also got a nice 7.5/10 review from Rhymes with Comics, with Megan's art scoring a full 8/10.

Levens black and white pages look fantastic. The style of this book reminded me of Jeff Smith’s RASL; a shadowy cartoon paired with disturbing, adult imagery. The opening pages alone show Levens’ cinema-influenced scene transitions and designs. As the female creation is awoken, you cen feel the violence of her body jolting with electricity, ‘intercut’ with flashbacks to the accident that killed her. The artwork sets up a unique tone for this book and it is the main thing that will bring me back to check out issue 2. 

You can read that review here.

If those don't convince you, Comic Book Resources has the first six pages previewed, just in case you somehow haven't seen them yet. We're also Tom Murphy's Staff Pick over at Broken Frontier.

If digital is more your thing, here is the issue on Comixology.

Or if you'd rather pick a different file format and get a copy DRM-free, we sell through Image direct.

Now is a good time to thank Image Comics, as well, for their support of the book. Eric Stephenson and his team--Ron Richards, Jenna Savage, Branwyn Bigglestone, David Brothers, Drew Gill, Monica Garcia, Jonathan Chan, Kat Salazar, Meredith Wallace, Jennifer de Guzman, and everyone else--have been super great to work with. They really put their muscle behind us, and we are grateful for the opportunity that provided.

Finally, signed copies are available for cover price in my webstore, check the menu above.

Another shout-out to Zeus Comics and all the folks who came out to see me at Free Comic Book Day. It was a wonderful event, and Zeus are great hosts. Here is a great photo of myself with Joëlle Jones, writer Ian Shaughnessy, and Mike Norton. Aren't we a handsome bunch?

Current Soundtrack: The Horrors, Luminous

I'VE COME FOR MY AWARD

Oh, awards season.

Look, let's be honest. We all bitch and grouse about how they don't mean anything and it's a popularity contest or whatever, but we all want to win one when it comes down to it. I kept my fingers crossed reading over the Eisner nominations last month. Everyone probably did.

While a committee decides on the Eisners, there are other award ceremonies where the nomination process is more open.

There are the Harvey Awards, which industry professionals can vote for. Ballots accepted until May 19.

And there are the Eagle Awards, recently renamed for Stan Lee, that any reader can have a say in. Put in nominations here until May 16.

No big sales pitch here. I'm just going to make a list of books I worked on and that my friends worked on that you might consider. It's hard to remember what's what in any given year, so I'm going to jog both of our memories. In most cases, you can vote for any of these in the major categories: series, writer, artist, etc. I'll make notes if maybe you should consider something else.

* Battlepug digital comic, and vol. 2 collected edition by Mike Norton (writer/artist), Allen Passalaqua (colorist), and Crank! (letterer) [self-published/Dark Horse Comics]

* A Boy and a Girl graphic novel by Jamie S. Rich (writer), Natalie Nourigat (artist), and Ed Brisson (letterer) [Oni Press]

* The Double Life of Miranda Turner digital only series by Jamie S. Rich (writer), George Kambadais (artist), Paulina Ganucheau (colorist), and Crank! (letterer) [Monkeybrain Comics]

* FF by Matt Fraction & Lee Allred (writers), Michael Allred (artist, incl. covers), and Laura Allred (colorist) [Marvel Comics] 

* Helheim miniseries by Cullen Bunn (writer), Joëlle Jones (artist, incl. covers), Nick Filardi (colorist), and Ed Brisson (letterer) [Oni Press]

* It Girl and the Atomics #s 6-12 by Jamie S. Rich [writer], Mike Norton [7, 8, 9, 12], Chynna Clugston-Flores [6, 12], and Natalie Nourigat [10, 11, 12] (artists), Allen Passalaqua (colorist), Crank! (letterer), and Michael & Laura Allred (covers) [Image Comics]

* Revival by Tim Seeley (writer), Mike Norton (artist), Mark Englert (colorist), Crank! (letterer), and Jenny Frisson (covers) [Image Comics]

* The Sixth Gun by Cullen Bunn (writer), Brian Hurtt (artist, incl. covers), and Bill Crabtree (colorist) [Oni Press]

* Spell Checkers, vol. 3: Careless Whisper graphic novel by Jamie S. Rich (writer), Nicolas Hitori de and Joëlle Jones (artists), Warren Wucinich (letterer), and Joëlle Jones (cover) [Oni Press]

* Please also consider George Kambadais for Best New Talent and It Girl and the Atomics #6 as Best Single Issue.

These are, of course, not everything published last year, not all of my friends, and not even all of some of these folks' work. But its a good core of friends and colleagues. Keep them in mind!

Current Soundtrack: This week's episode of Survivor

MAY DEATH NEVER STOP YOU

* Reminder: This Saturday, I am at Zeus Comics in Dallas with Mike Norton and Joëlle Jones to celebrate Free Comic Book Day. I will have books for sale, including advance issues of Madame Frankenstein in limited supply. Come down!

* Archer Coe & the Thousand Natural Shocks: We are more than halfway through the digital serialization. Response has been great.

Sequential Pictures even has a very thorough, albeit spoiler-free, review that includes talk about the $0.99 roll-out.

Archer Coe combines 1940′s noir cinema and the masked adventurer pulps of the same era to great effect. It centers around Archer Coe, a stage hypnotist whose craft is not a parlor trick, but a grander “exchange of information”. His profession and eclectic lifestyle first cast him as belonging to the large pantheon of masked adventurers. Unique abilities, high ideals, and a costume all set the story to be an adventure narrative. By the second issue, it evolves into something that bares a greater resemblance to a Phillip Marlowe novel, than one about Doc Savage.

Read the whole review here.

You still have almost an entire month to order the book from your favorite retailer. Grab our handy order form.

* Madame Frankenstein: If you'd rather meet Megan Levens than me, I can't blame you. She'll be doing two events in Southern California to promote the book launch.

First, on Saturday, May 2, at Blastoff! in North Hollywood for Free Comic Day: details.

Second, Wednesday, May 7, at Earth-2 in Sherman Oaks: details.

Like Madame Frankenstein on Facebook.

Comic Front Line had some kind words about the book, too.

As a big fan of women in comics and the original Frankenstein story, I’m looking forward to see how adding a reanimated woman into the lore as the monster will be done. The mood is also supposed to be very reminiscent of classic horror films. Levens describes it by saying: “I've always been strongly drawn to the moody, old-Hollywood glamour of the classic Universal monster films, and I felt that aesthetic would be a perfect match for the elements of horror and romance in this story… 

Read the full report.

And look, the real thing exists...

Current Soundtrack: Kelis, Food

READER MEET AUTHOR: Special Edition NYC & Free Comic Book Day

First, a reminder, May 3 come see myself, Joëlle Jones, and Mike Norton at Zeus Comics in Dallas, TX, to celebrate Free Comic Book Day. I

Then, the following month, June 14 and 15, I'll be joining Mike Norton, Michael & Laura Allred, and a tons of great folks for Special Edition: New York City. I'm really excited about this show. I haven't been to the East Coast since I went to NY Comic Con a couple of years ago, and this new event is put on by the same people. It's a Special Edition because it's comic books only. No big media, video games, or anything else. Just comics!

I should hopefully have copies of Archer Coe & the Thousand Natural Shocks to debut at the show, as well as the first two issues of Madame Frankenstein and a smattering of other books. If I have any A Boy and a Girl hardcovers left by then, for instance. 

Here are more details.

Current Soundtrack: Phantogram, Voices

COMICS NEWS ROUND-UP

Lots of big things happening in my comic book world this week, so let's do one big post.

May 3 come see myself, Joëlle Jones, and Mike Norton at Zeus Comics in Dallas, TX, to celebrate Free Comic Book Day. If all goes well, I'll have advance copies of Madame Frankenstein #1.

Speaking of, here is another sneak peek of the book. Remember, orders are due to comic shops by this coming Monday, April 14. That's when Image Comics will set the print run. So far, the response has been phenomenal, for which Megan Levens and I both thank you, but please don't hesitate to let your favorite comic book shop know you're interested and encourage them to order heavy. The stronger the start, the better we have to build from.

Image has also added a series page to their website.

Power to the monster! Two panels from Madame Frankenstein #1.

Comixology has the first two chapters of Archer Coe & the Thousand Natural Shocks available as $0.99 downloads. We'll be updating their site with a new chapter every Tuesday and Thursday for the next six weeks, totalling 14 chapters in all, until the whole thing is online. The story was always intended to be serialized online, so reading it this way, you'll get the full cliffhanger effect. 

Subscribe to the whole series.

And don't forget you can order the print version from your local comics retailer.

Check out the Oni Press page for the book.

Digital chapter head for the Comixology version of Archer Coe & the Thousand Natural Shocks.

Dark Horse Presents #35 is on sale next Wednesday, featuring the final chapter of “Integer City.” This is the opening page. I wrote the story, Brent Schoonover created the line art, Jean-Francois Beaulieu colored it, and Crank! lettered it. It was a lot of fun to create, and the response seemed positive.

Check out more stories from the issue, as well as previews of other Dark Horse titles due next week over at Comics Bulletin. 

And e-mail dhp@darkhorse.com to let them know you want to see this story collected and continued. Mark it “okay to print” if you don’t mind being in their letters column.

Opening page from "Integer City" chapter 6, the big finale, coming in Dark Horse Presents #35, April 16.

Current Soundtrack: A playlist of Neptunes productions on Spotify

HERE SHE COMES, YOU'D BETTER WATCH YOUR STEP

 For Immediate Release - September 27, 2013

SECOND IT GIRL & THE ATOMICS PAPERBACK COLLECTS THE REST OF BELOVED SERIES

Jamie S. Rich and a cadre of artists top off their acclaimed year-long run on the It Girl and the Atomics series with the second trade paperback collection. It Girl and the Atomics, Round Two: The World is Flat collects issues #7 through #12, drawn by Mike Norton (Revival) and Natalie Nourigat (The Thrillling Adventure Hour), with a special spooktacular appearance by Chynna Clugston Flores. The book will be published by Image Comics on October 2, 2013.

It Girl originally appeared in Michael Allred’s late 1990s comics series The Atomics, and later as a cast member in Madman Atomic Comics. This is her first solo series, as well as the first fully sanctioned Madman spin-off. It Girl’s superpowers are that she can touch any object and adopt its attributes, becoming “it.”

“I’m extremely proud of the work we did on these comics,” Rich said. “The series garnered what are so far the best reviews of my career, and it’s become the first thing people want to talk to me about when I’m at conventions. Having the whole thing together in two complete books is extremely gratifying. It’s a great way to end the project, and we want to reward our readers by giving them a special package.

In addition to all the stories from the individual comics, It Girl and the Atomics also has all the cover art by the original creators of It Girl, Madman masterminds Michael and Laura Allred. Bonus content includes brand-new pin-ups by Brian Churilla, Ming Doyle, Megan Levens, George Kambadais, Monica Gallagher, Brennan Wagner, Mike Russell, Christopher Mitten, and pioneering indie cartoonist Matt Wagner (Mage, Grendel).  The introduction was written by Eric M. Esquivel, writer of Freelancers for Boom! Studios.

“The support from our friends and colleagues on this one was tremendous,” Rich continued. “I think in a few years time, people will look back at the pin-up gallery and be shocked by what an impressive and varied list of people it is. Lots of up-and-comers in there with the more established professionals.”

It Girl and the Atomics, Round Two: The World is Flat collects six issues, but it’s made up of several shorter stories. “After the first trade paperback’s long, continuous narrative, I wanted to write superhero adventures that were done in one or two issues. Like most soap opera capes-and-cowls comics, there are still bits and pieces that connect them all, but the intention was to allow any new reader to jump in at just about anytime and go along with what we were doing. Really, you can read The World is Flat without ever having glanced at Dark Streets, Snap City and know what’s going on.

It Girl and the Atomics, Round Two: The World is Flat will be released by Image Comics on October 2. It has 168 color pages, retails for $14.99, and sports an all-new cover by Michael & Laura Allred.

Diamond ID: JUL130455

ISBN: 978-1607067917

For further enquiries, review materials, or interviews, contact Jamie S. Rich at golightly@gmail.com. 

Current Soundtrack: Justin Timberlake, The 20/20 Experience, part 2

BEAUTIFUL FRIEND, THE END

Comicosity is running a sneak peek of It Girl and the Atomics #12, on sale tomorrow.

It's the opening six pages, drawn by Mike Norton with colors by Allen Passalaqua and lettering by Crank!

The cover, of course, is by Michael and Laura Allred. 

I'm really proud of this book. Hopefully more of you will pick it up in trade. You can also get all the issues from my storefront. 

 

Current Soundtrack: Bastille, Haunt EP

STOP AS YOU MEANT TO GO ON

It's a bittersweet sense of accomplishment to put It Girl and the Atomics  #12 to bed, but we did that this morning. There's still the second trade to put together, but the principle work is done.

The issue will be out late this month, but for now, here are some samples, one page from each contributing artist, all colored by Allen Passalaqua: 

 

Mike Norton

Natalie Nourigat

Chynna Clugston Flores

Current Soundtrack: Franz Ferdinand, "Right Action/Love Illumination"