Madefire posted the first installment of The Irons: Hybrids today on iOS. Co-created with Gary Erskine, The Irons is a fusion of sci-fi and horror. Blade Runner meets Se7en, set on a quarantined slum planet where everyone dreams of only one thing: escape. The first story, “Hybrids,” focuses on Leto, a cop tracking down a serial killer who commandeers ubiquitous teleportation machines to kidnap and kill his victims in gruesome fashion. Today’s release is the first “episode” of the motion book, introducing our narrator and the killer himself.
The Irons is my first comic book story set in a wholly original universe, and probably the longest self-contained story I’ve written. It’s also among the most rewarding projects I’ve ever worked on, in part because we’re embarking into new territory with motion books and the story-telling possibilities. And, as I’ve found with everything I’ve ever done, this effort has relied on a talented team to bring it to you: aside from the legendary Gary Erskine, we have brilliant colors by Yel Zamor; music by Ali Powers; crack editorial and creative guidance from Liam Sharp; letterers Joe Costello and Kevin Wong patiently handling last-minute script changes; and a group of alchemist engineers at Madefire (Eugene Walden, Ross McFarland, Matthew Chung, and Dan Weeks). Thanks to everyone involved.
Cover to The Irons: Hybrids. Art by Erskine and Zamor.
Big news today with the announcement of the Madefire motion book reader! Madefire has created something truly unique here, and I’m humbled and ecstatic to be part of it. The roster of creators includes Dave Gibbons, Liam Sharp, Bill Sienkiewicz, Doug Braithwaite, and many others. Read the official press release, then come on back here.
Among all the ridiculously talented people contributing to the first round of Madefire motion books is Gary Erskine, my partner-in-crime on THE IRONS, my first original story.
So, what the hell is THE IRONS? This first story, called “Hybrids,” focuses on Leto, a detective working the hard cases on The Irons — a quarantined planet that has become a sprawling slum. Everyone, including Leto herself, dreams of earning enough scratch to get off-world, to one of the dozens of Utopian planets that exist behind corporate-sponsored blockades. Deep in debt and living case-to-case, Leto finally sees her chance to escape by collecting the reward for capturing a twisted serial killer. A mix of horror, sci-fi, and noir thriller, THE IRONS is also my longest single story yet, and hopefully the first in a series of stories about the planet and its people.
The first installment is coming soon, but meanwhile be sure to check out the other stories — Captain Stone, Mono, and Treatment: Tokyo. They are all great reads.
And below, check out a preview page from THE IRONS! Gary Erskine with colors by Yel Zamor.
And the App!
First, I’m just floored and humbled that Batwoman was honored by GLAAD with the Media Award for Outstanding Comic. I don’t know exactly what we are doing right, but I hope it has to do with the fact that we haven’t shied away from Kate’s sexuality, and have tried to make her well-rounded and human… Even if that means sometimes making mistakes. Check out the full list of recipients – very inspiring company.
Most fans already know that the talented Amy Reeder is no longer working on Batwoman. I’m extremely grateful for all her hard work, especially in bringing Bloody Mary to the page. Her last issue, #8, comes out on April 11th.
And while it’s sad to see someone leave the series, both Jim and I are very excited to welcome aboard Trevor McCarthy from Gates of Gotham and Nightwing. Clearly, he’s no stranger to Gotham City. His first issue will be #9. I’ve already seen some of the pages, and they are incredible – a great complement to the work that Jim and Amy have already done. The storyline will continue from right where Amy’s run leaves off, still following six different characters and Batwoman’s attempts to bring down the villain Falchion. For those of you enjoying the slightly unorthodox story-telling, thanks for all the kind words; for those who aren’t, I’d just ask that you stick with it until the end of the arc and see how it all comes together.
In other news, the first issue of Darth Vader & The Ghost Prison is slated for May. Agustin Alessio’s art for the series is gorgeous — he really captures the humanity of the characters well, and still makes Vader incredibly imposing. And, we get more covers from Tsuneo Sanda.
Finally, sometime in the next few weeks, I should be able to announce my first original comic and provide some details…
Two recent awesome announcements regarding Batwoman!
First, we’re humbled and honored to have been nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book. As excerpted from the GLAAD site: “The GLAAD Media Awards honor outstanding media images of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community that inspire change. The GLAAD Media Awards serve as a benchmark for the media industry and complement GLAAD’s work to bring LGBT images and stories to Americans.” As you can see from the full list of nominees, we’re in great company.
Second, DC has announced a hardcover edition of Batwoman issues #0-5. It will hit store shelves on June 13th!
Issue #6, with art by Amy Reeder, will be out February 8th.
I did an interview with the Hourly Planet web site few weeks ago, which has now been posted. It’s mostly focused on Batwoman, with some hints about Arc 2 and 3.
Batwoman #4 comes out next Wednesday! As “Hydrology” nears its conclusion, we pick up right where we left off last issue, with Flamebird about to make her heroic return to crime-fighting. We also introduce a new villain, reveal more about the Weeping Woman’s origins, and continue to evolve Kate and Maggie’s relationship. And we get to show Batwoman doing some actual detective work! DC has released a few preview pages, which I’m re-posting here. Click to enlarge.
The five-issue series Darth Vader & The Lost Command has been collected into a hardcover edition, which hits shelves tomorrow. I’m still geeking out on this project — the fact that Rick Leonardi agreed to do the art and that Dark Horse wanted to do a hardcover version. And, I’m overwhelmed by all the positive response to the story, especially the scenes that show Vader as somewhat vulnerable, which I felt were the “riskiest” parts of the story from Star Wars fan perspective. You can check out a preview at Dark Horse, and order it at TFAW.
Looks like Batwoman #1 was the #17 comic book in September, and issue #2 climbed two spots to #15 in October! Here’s hoping that Issue #3 cracks the top 10… Below you’ll find a few preview pages (the first is the cover, followed by Page 1, then we jump ahead a few pages, skipping a really creepy encounter with the Weeping Woman…) As always, click to enlarge.
DC recently ran a series of interviews with the creators working on titles with supernatural and/or horror themes on the official blog, the Source. Since Batwoman is dealing with the ghostly Weeping Woman in the first arc, and we’ve often described the book as a “vigilante comic with supernatural overtones,” Jim and I were fortunate enough to be included in the interviews. You can check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 by clicking the links.
The image reposted here is a quick preview of Issue 3, just before things get really weird. Click to enlarge.
My next Star Wars series will be officially announced at NYCC this week, but you can get some early information about Darth Vader & The Ghost Prison over at Newsarama, where they’ve posted an interview about the project.
The short pitch is this: “Darth Vader and The Ghost Prison tells the story of one of the earliest attempts to assassinate the Emperor, and the lengths that Darth Vader, Moff Trachta, and a young, eager lieutenant will go to in order to protect Palpatine.”
I’m really excited about the project because it’s the first time I’ve been able to write a Star Wars story from mostly a first-person perspective — the series is essentially narrated by the lieutenant, who has just graduated from the Academy and is caught up in a violent coup attempt.
