Archaia Studios Press
Mr. Murder is Dead creative team shares a new Halloween strip
Courtesy of Victor Quinaz, Brent Schoonover and Archaia Comics, we’re pleased to share a Halloween-themed comic strip by the creative team behind Archaia’s Mr. Murder is Dead, starring the story’s main character, The Spook. Click on the image below to check it out:
Smashed Pumpkins
- October 31, 2011 @ 05:00 AM by JK Parkin
Previews: What Looks Good for October
Spera, Volume 1
It’s time once again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool, new comics. As usual, we’re focusing on graphic novels, collected volumes, and first issues so that I don’t have to come up with a new way to say, “Jeff Lemire’s Frankenstein is still awesome!” every month. And I’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.
Also, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell me what I missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.
Archaia
The Grave Doug Freshley – A lot of publishers are doing Weird Western comics lately and that’s just fine with me.
Spera, Volume 1 – I like the sound of this fairy tale in which a couple of princesses combine efforts to save their kingdoms. It’s not that I’m anti-prince, but that’s a cool, new way to do that story.
Avatar
Captain Swing and the Electrical Pirates of Cindery Island – Warren Ellis doing Steampunk sounds thrilling, but really all they had to say was “pirates.” I bet this is still really good though, even if you’re pickier than I am.
Boom!
Roger Langridge’s Snarked #1 – After a well-loved zero-issue, Langridge’s version of Wonderland gets its real, official start.
- August 10, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by Michael May
What Are You Reading?
Uncanny X-Force #1
Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at what the Robot 6 crew has been enjoying on the comics front. Today our special guest is our friend Ron Richards, one of the co-founders of the popular comics website iFanboy.com. To see what Ron and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below.
- December 12, 2010 @ 01:14 PM by JK Parkin
What Are You Reading?
Thor: The Mighty Avenger #4
Welcome to What Are You Reading?, where we give a great big hug to all the comics, graphic novels and what have you we’ve been reading lately.
Our special guest this week is Ben Morse, assistant editor of Marvel.com and one of the several contributors to the Cool Kids Table blog. He’s also written a few stories for Marvel as well.
To see what Ben and the Robot 6 crew have been reading recently, hit the link …
- September 19, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by JK Parkin
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs | The Killer
The Killer, Volume 1
The Killer, Volume 1
Written by Matz; Illustrated by Luc Jacamon
Archaia; $19.95
As single issues, The Killer was a gorgeous, entrancing reading experience. Or rather, I imagine that it was. That was my experience with the two or three issues I bought before deciding to wait for the collection. The trouble was a sporadic publishing schedule and a story that didn’t really encourage a serialized approach. Issues were intimately connected with each other and there wasn’t much in the way of recapping from issue to issue. It was obvious that this was going to read much better in larger chunks. And so it does.
The title character is a nameless assassin-for-hire who operates out of Paris. As the story opens he’s holed up in a hotel across the street from the home of his next target’s girlfriend. The problem is: his target hasn’t shown up for nine days and the Killer’s getting restless. As he continues to wait, he recalls past kills and how he got into this business. Through his narration he reveals an honest, non-hypocritical attitude about his life. He knows what he’s doing isn’t nice and he doesn’t apologize for it, but he thinks you’re the two-faced one if you condemn him for it.
Justification, complications, and James Bond after the break.
- June 2, 2010 @ 03:00 PM by Michael May
Six by 6 | Six Fraggle Rock episodes that will blow your mind
Fraggle Rock
Editor’s Note: One-time Robot 6 guest blogger Sam Humphries, who has a story in tomorrow’s Mouse Guard/Fraggle Rock Special Edition Flip-Book, pays us a visit today to share some of his thoughts on Fraggle Rock. And if you’re in the L.A. area, be sure to stop by Meltdown Comics tomorrow to meet Sam.
I know what you’re thinking. Who is this guy to tell me which Fraggle Rock episodes will blow my mind? I mean, how presumptuous, right?
Dude, I know. I did not even grow up with Fraggle Rock. The Rock was on HBO and there was no HBO in the house. HBO showed boobies and Mama Humphries did not play like that. I am not that person who has held Fraggles in their hearts since their formative years.
But I did write a story for Archaia’s new Fraggle Rock comic anthology, illustrated by Jeremy “Eisner nominated for Bayou” Love. You can find our Fraggle tale in the Mouse Guard/Fraggle Rock Special Edition Flip-Book, available at comic book stores everywhere, for FREE, on May 1st — otherwise known as Free Comic Book Day! Ah, the nice price.
If you’re near Los Angeles, come on down to Meltdown in Hollywood, where Jeremy and I will be signing copies of the free Fraggle book. Astoundingly, Red Fraggle herself will also be in attendance. Karen Prell, the OG puppeteer of Red on the Fraggle Rock show, will be there with the original Muppet, meeting fans, singing songs, and taking pictures as Red Fraggle.
So, watching Fraggle Rock for the first time as someone old enough to attend rated R films alone, I got to enjoy the series with eyes unclouded by nostalgia. And I realized: for a “kids” show, Fraggle Rock is a mind freak.
Emboldened by the success of the previous Muppet franchises, Jim Henson and company didn’t flinch from daring themselves to new heights of spectacular puppet feats. And when it came to the themes of the series, they didn’t hesitate to go deep — way deep. Compared to the groovy sunshine sessions of Sesame Street and the upbeat let’s-put-on-a-show enthusiasm of the Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock is the slightly moody teenage cousin of the bunch.
The result? A multi-layered head trip for all ages. Sure, there’s plenty of exuberant songs, bright colors, and cute foam creatures, but Gobo, Red, Wembly, Mokey, and Boober Fraggle spent most episodes exploring dark, complicated passageways of existence. It’s no surprise that Fraggle Rock has the most “cult” fanbase of the three series.
Whether you are new to the Rock or a big fan from way back, there’s plenty of crazy on this list to rock your world. Here, for your lid-flipping pleasure, are are Six Fraggle Rock Episodes That Will Blow Your Mind.
- April 30, 2010 @ 12:30 PM by Sam Humphries
C2E2 | Saturday
As expected, I didn’t spend a lot of time in the Exhibit Hall today. I decided to skip one extra-long panel in the morning rather than give up the entire day and I’m glad I did if only for the opportunity to visit with Jeremy Bastian, pick up the third issue of Cursed Pirate Girl, and meet characters from the book — including CPG herself.
Jeremy Bastian
- April 18, 2010 @ 05:00 AM by Michael May
Straight for the art | Neil Kleid heads down to Fraggle Rock
Fraggle Rock
On his blog, comics creator Neil Kleid lists several projects he’s working on, including a graphic novel called American Caesar from NBM and drawing a four-pager for a Harvey Pekar-edited anthology. He’s also writing a story for Archaia’s Fraggle Rock comic, and although he won’t be drawing it, he does share a couple of Fraggle sketches.
- February 11, 2010 @ 10:45 AM by JK Parkin
Talking Comics with Tim: Nick Tapalansky & Alex Eckman-Lawn
Awakening
Awakening creators, writer Nick Tapalansky and artist Alex Eckman-Lawn, are two storytellers eager to get the word out about the return of their project (which recently returned to the market from an 18-month hiatus as its publisher [sorted out business challenges [as explained here]). As announced in late September, Tapalansky and Eckman-Lawn are in the midst of a four-stop tour to generate support and interest in their Archaia hardcover horror book, Awakening. The tour opened on October 10 and in the course of this email interview, the details of the remaining dates are revealed (including this Staturday’s stop at Upstate Comics). The story “takes place in the once-peaceful city of Park Falls, where a series of gruesome murders and missing persons has put the town on edge, and Cynthia Ford, known as the town ‘crazy,’ finds retired police detective Derrick Peters and relates to him her belief about what’s going on. Her explanation: Zombies. Unable to ignore Cynthia’s information, though not sharing her beliefs, Derrick and others in the town explore the mystery as weeks turn to months and the death toll rises. Could Cynthia be right or has she finally gone insane?”
Tim O’Shea: During the 18-month publishing hiatus, was there ever any point you wanted to give up on the project or you always believed it would come back?
Nick Tapalansky: I don’t think we ever even considered giving up on it. Besides already having so much blood invested in it, the story is one which I’m really excited to tell since it’s been percolating in my mind for the last five years. It was just a matter of being patient and seeing how everything resolved itself at Archaia.
Alex Eckman-Lawn: No way! There were some scary days in there, but I don’t think we ever once discussed giving up on the book. It was always, “How can we make this happen?” and luckily for us, all we really had to do was wait it out.
- October 15, 2009 @ 01:00 PM by Tim O'Shea
Everyone’s A Critic: A round-up of comic reviews and thinkpieces
Asterios Polyp
• Man, everyone and their Uncle Bob is reviewing David Mazzucchelli’s Asterios Polyp these days aren’t they? This week alone we’ve seen Brian Hibbs, Rob Clough, Douglas Wolk and the LA Times’ David Ulin.
Not wanting to be left out of the fun, I’ll probably have my own review of the book up this Friday.
• The Groovy Age of Horror’s Curt Purcell has been spending a lot of time talking about Blackest Night, and, given that he’s not a regular fan, he has some interesting things to say about the crossover event. Rather than link to all the separate posts, I’ll just say start here and work your way back.
Oh, and while you’re at it, read his new review of Gilbert Hernandez’s Speak of the Devil.
• Johnny Bacardi likes Blackest Night quite a bit too.
• Speaking of the Hernandez brothers, are you confused about where to dive into their expansive magnum opus, Love and Rockets? The Onion’s AV Club is here to help. Continue Reading »
- July 29, 2009 @ 11:15 AM by Chris Mautner
Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: A publishing news round-up
• Ladies and gentlemen, Dwayne McDuffie has an announcement:
The very first Milestone comic will finally be collected, 17 years after its original publication. HARDWARE: THE MAN IN THE MACHINE will reprint Hardware #1-8, featuring the character’s origin, and first adventure. The Direct Market (comic book store) release date hasn’t been announced yet, but it tends to be about a month earlier than in the general market.
• In other news, Archaia announced plans to start a new $9.95 hardcover line of books, where one graphic novel will be released each quarter at that low price. The plan kicks off in August with the release of The Engineer: Konstrukt.
• Fantagraphics co-publisher Kim Thompson says the Norewegian artist Jason’s next project will be a repackaging of his previous books in the new Low Moon format. The first book, Almost Silent, will collect You Can’t Get There From Here, The Living and the Dead, Tell Me Something and Meow Baby! The next book, What I Did, will tentatively collect The Iron Wagon, Shhhhh and Hey Wait. Thompson also adds that Jason is working on a new graphic novel, Werewolves of Montpellier, which will be out in summer of 2010.
- June 30, 2009 @ 08:55 AM by Chris Mautner
Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: A publishing news round-up
Snooker
• Cartoonist Ben Towle has announced the release of Snooker, a 64-page collection of his various minicomics. It’s available for $10 at this site.
• I mentioned awhile back that Charles Burns was the editor for this year’s edition of The Best American Comics series from HoughtonMifflin. It looks like Michael Kupperman is handling the cover chores on that book as well.
• In case you missed it: Archaia is partnering up with Henson Studios to make comics based on the Fraggle Rock, Labryinth and Mirrormask franchises.
• In case you missed it part II: Movie producer and comic book author Jeff Katz has started a new entertainment company, American Originals, that will publish comic books, among other things
• Broken Frontier reveals that Drawn and Quarterly will be publishing an English version of Brecht Evens’ The Wrong Place early next year.
• Save your mana points now: Wizards of the Coast will release their first ever Magic: The Gathering graphic novel, Path of the Planeswalker, in October.
• Hey, Osamu Tezuka’s Swallowing the Earth is now on sale at Akadot Retail, though it looks like you might pay for the privilege of being a first-buyer.
• Wondering what’s up with the Graphic NYC book? The authors of the photo book of Big Apple cartoonists spill the beans on their publishing plans.
- June 25, 2009 @ 01:00 PM by Chris Mautner
NYCC | Archaia teams with Roddenberry for sci-fi miniseries
ASP
Archaia Studios Press today announced an agreement with Roddenberry Productions to publish Days Missing, a five-issue science fiction miniseries based on a concept by Roddenberry COO Trevor Roth.
According to ICv2.com, more details, including the creative team, are expected to be revealed later this month at WonderCon. The first issue of Days Missing will be released in July at Comic-Con International.
Roddenberry Productions is headed by producer Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry Jr., son of the late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and actress Majel Barrett.
Archaia Studios Press, publisher of such titles as Mouse Guard, Robotika and Artesia, was acquired in October by Chicago-based Kunoichi Inc.
- February 6, 2009 @ 03:46 PM by Kevin Melrose