Here’s a two-fisted webcomic for fans of Clark Gable and old action movies: Ace Kilroy, the story of a Gable-esque tough guy who is sent by his good friend, President Franklin Roosevelt, to investigate a Nazi plot to harness vampires and other supernatural creatures to further their cause. Ace is a smart guy, but in true B-movie fashion, he knows when to let his fists do the talking. And the strip is smart, too—that’s Secretary of State Cordell Hull hovering in the middle panel, behind FDR. I bet he doesn’t show up in too many comics these days.

The webcomic launched on Halloween (of course!), and it updates daily, with a big color comic on Sundays. The archives are a quick read, and there’s also a nicely designed dossier on the characters that shows that creators Rob Kelly and Dan O’Connor have really put some thought into this comic and are in it for the long haul. Kelly and O’Connor are trying to raise enough money via Kickstarter to work exclusively on the comic for a while, as well as to start work on a print edition and do some publicity. The Kickstarter campaign runs through this Wednesday, so if you like what you see, don’t dally! Awards include, in typical 1930s fashion, membership in Ace’s Allies, which I can only hope includes a secret decoder ring.

The New Deadwardians

Vertigo Comics announced today that writer Dan Abnett and artist I.N.J. Culbard will team up on an eight-issue miniseries titled The New Deadwardians, a comic set in post-Victorian England where the upper class voluntarily becomes vampires in order to escape the lower class, who have all become zombies.

“May I just confess that this is a story that involves both zombies and vampires, two things I swore I would never write about because they had both long since jumped the shark,” Abnett said in his pitch. “Then this idea came to me and wouldn’t leave me alone. Please be tolerant of the zombie-and-vampire-ness of this until you’ve heard me out. It’s essentially a detective story set in an alternate history England, circa 1900.”

Here’s how they described the book on the Vertigo blog:

Set in post-Victorian England, nearly everyone in the upper class has voluntarily become a vampire to escape the lower classes who are all zombies.

Thrust into this mayhem is Chief Inspector George Suttle, a lonely detective who’s got the slowest beat in London: investigating murders in a world where everyone is already dead!

But when the body of a young aristocrat washes up on the banks of the Thames, Suttle’s quest for the truth will take him from the darkest sewers to the gleaming halls of power, and reveal the rotten heart at the center of this strange world.

Abnett, of course, is one half of the DnA writing team with Andy Lanning, who together write Resurrection Man and New Mutants. Culbard has done work for Dark Horse and SelfMadeHero, a British publisher, including the adaptation of Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness that won a British Fantasy Award earlier this year.

The first issue comes out in March.

Done to Death

Courtesy of Andrew Foley, Fiona Staples and IDW, we’re pleased to present a sneak preview of Done to Death, a graphic novel that arrives in shops this week. It’s the story of an editor who gets tired of reading “poorly written Twilight knockoffs,” so she starts killing off the would-be writers submitting them to her. Here’s the official description:

WRITTEN BY: Andrew Foley
ILLUSTRATIONS AND COVERS BY: Fiona Staples
FOREWORD BY: Steve Niles

“Fed up with receiving poorly written Twilight knockoffs, editor Shannon Wade did what any reasonable person would: she started killing the worst of the would-be authors sending them to her. Meanwhile, Andy, a stuttering, overweight vampire has targeted those who portray vampires in a light he deems unrealistic. Not exactly novel but terribly graphic, Done To Death follows Andy and Shannon’s paths towards a collision as darkly funny as it is ridiculously violent.”

“DONE TO DEATH” Drops This September From IDW Publishing! (MSRP – $19.99 Page Count – 136)

I should note that the preview contains violent/gruesome scenes, it’s not safe for work and it’s for mature readers only. Check it out after the jump.

*****

Orchid

Comic-Con International in San Diego hasn’t officially started yet—tonight was Preview Night—but the news has been rolling in. So let’s take a look at today’s announcements

• Dark Horse announced three new projects earlier this evening. They will publish a comics adaptation of The Strain, the sci-fi/vampire trilogy by filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. The comic will be written by David Lapham with art by Mike Huddleston.

• They also announced a series written by Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello with art by Scott Hepburn. Orchid is about a 16-year-old prostitute in a dystopian future “becoming the Spartacus of whores.” Each issue will come with a music track by Morello.

• And finally on the Dark Horse front, they will publish comics set in the young vampire world of P.C. Cast’s House of Night novel series. It will be co-written by Kent Dallan with art by Joëlle Jones. You can see a trailer promoting all three new books on YouTube.

• IDW announced the Wally Wood Artist’s Edition, the third in a series that also includes Dave Stevens’ Complete Rocketeer and Walter Simonson’s The Mighty Thor Artist’s Edition.

• Archaia announced Cow Boy, an all-ages graphic novel created by Nate Cosby and Chris Eliopoulos and featuring an impressive array of guest writers.

• 12-Gauge Comics will release a southern-friend anthology called Country Ass-Whuppin’ later this year to raise money for the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund in Alabama. Participants include Kody Chamberlain, Jason Aaron and more.

• DC Comics is doing a comic adaptation of the Uncharted video game series.

The Avengers poster

• The digital comics app Panelfly is relaunching as both a comics reader and a transmedia storytelling platform that will incorporate videos, blogs, and even Twitter.

• Marvel launched the official website for Joss Whedon’s The Avengers movie, although there isn’t much on it yet.

• Sony released the official trailer for the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man film.

• 1970s comic Captain Canuck has apparently been optioned for film.

• Walden Media has optioned the SLG title Rex Libris, created by James Turner.

• Activision revealed release dates for X-Men Destiny — Sept. 27 — and Spider-Man: Edge of Time — Oct. 4.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula may be the most famous vampire novel, but it wasn’t the first: James Malcolm Rymer’s Varney the Vampire; or, the Feast of Blood, published in serialized issues in the mid-1840s, prefigured not only modern vampire stories but modern emo-vampire stories, with a fanged hero who drinks people’s blood and feels just terrible about it afterward. You can read the book on Project Gutenberg if you have a couple of months to spare — it’s over 800 pages long — but outside the shadowy regions of the Internet, Varney is pretty obscure.

Until now! Writer Scott Massino and artist Marcio Takara (whose credits include Incorruptible and The Incredibles, both for BOOM! Studios) are raising funds on Kickstarter for a Varney the Vampire comic that restores this lost character to his rightful place in popular culture. Massino’s Varney is an undead rock guitarist who is determined to reclaim his legacy. He bribes his screenwriter nephew Simon to write a movie script about his life, but a coven of witches is getting in the way. From the pitch:

“Shadow of the Vampire” meets “Get Shorty” and “Crossroads” in this hilarious and horrifying take on the vampire genre that blends the garish pop humor of such adult cartoons as “Family Guy” and “South Park.”

The project seems to be pretty well thought out—these guys don’t just have a charcter and a plot, they have a theme as well—and, according to this local-boy-makes-good article, Massino has the first story arc completely worked out. The first issue is done, and the Kickstarter funding will go toward the next two. They hope to either pitch it to Image or publish it themselves; either way, this is a pair to watch.

Conan O'Brien by Jess Smart Smiley

Jess Smart Smiley’s all-ages graphic novel Upside Down: A Vampire Tale comes out in October from Top Shelf, and he’s hoping to promote it by making an appearance on the Conan O’Brien show. So he’s drawing pictures of O’Brien and posting them on Facebook to try and get O’Brien’s attention.

“My goal is to be invited as a guest on the Conan O’Brien show and talk about the book in October, when it comes out. We can talk about other things, too,” he says on the Facebook group, “Will Draw for Coco.” “I’m drawing pictures of Conan from every episode from now (May) until October, when the book comes out. Please help spread the word about the awesome drawings and even cooler graphic novel.”

Via Earth 616

Steel #1

Welcome to the first Food or Comics? for 2011. Every week we talk about what comics we’d buy on Wednesday based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on what we call our “Splurge” item.

Check out Diamond’s release list for this week if you’d like to play along in our comments section.

Graeme McMillan

Hey, it’s the first week of 2011, and time to get some awesome comics, right? Right? So for my $15, I’ll pick up… Oh. Kind of a slow week, then, huh? Well, there’s always Steel #1 (DC, $2.99), the sure-to-be-controversial one-shot that launches the retro “Reign of Doomsday” crossover, and my love of James Robinson’s Justice League will ensure I pick up the Starman/Congorilla one-shot (DC, $2.99), if only to find out what all those interludes in the middle of the current “Omega” storyline are all about. Curiosity compels me to pick up Image’s Walking Dead Weekly #1 ($2.99), if only to see if it’s pretty much an exact reprint of the original first issue with a different cover, but that remaining $6 may just end up burning a hole in my pocket. Maybe I’ll put it toward my $30 haul…

If I had $30, I’d take that $9′s worth of singles, and add the Fraction TP (DC, $18.99). I barely remember this 2004 series from DC’s short-lived “Focus” line about a group of men who steal an Iron Man-esque suit and split it between them, but what I do remember, I enjoyed. Plus, it’s got art from Tim Green II, so if nothing else, it’ll look nice.

Splurging, it’s a much easier choice: Marvel’s Mighty Thor Omnibus has a lot of early Kirby and Lee, over-sized? That’s well worth $99.99 to me. Hell, ANY over-sized Kirby is worth that much, if you ask me…

Michael May

If I had $15:

Megamind #1

I’d get Steel #1 ($2.99), partly because I’ve always liked Steel, partly because of Sean T. Collins. I’m still kind of fascinated with how much I liked Megamind, so I’d pick up Ape’s Megamind #1 (3.95) to see if it’s able to capture any of what I liked about the movie. Finally, I’d add to my On the Case with Holmes and Watson collection by getting the sixth volume, The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire ($6.95).

If I had $30:

I’d add issues of some ongoings and mini-series: Billy the Kid’s Old Timey Oddities and the Ghastly Fiend of London #4 ($3.99), Doc Macabre #2 ($3.99), Edge of Doom #3 ($3.99) and John Byrne’s Next Men #2 ($3.99).

Splurge:

I’ve already got Masterworks volumes with many of those Thor stories, so I’d spend my mad money on the other Marvel Omnibus coming out this week, Women of Marvel: Seven Decades ($125) featuring early stories about Hellcat, Tigra, Shanna the She-Devil, Black Widow, She-Hulk and a whole bunch of other favorites.

Chris Mautner

World War III Illustrated

Wow, Graeme wasn’t kidding when he said it was a slow week, was he? I guess for my $15 purchase, I’ll have to go with maybe the 41st issue of the Tea Party’s favorite comic, World War III Illustrated ($7), which features folks like Peter Kuper and Seth Tobocman looking at the food industry and food/health issues.

At the $30 mark, I’ll also pick up the first volume of Salvatore ($14.99), a charming funny animal comic by French author Nicolas de Crecy (Glacial Period) about a little dog mechanic who steals parts from the cars he fixes in order to build the ultimate hot rod that will get him to his true love in South America. The story also involves a lost baby piglet, his nearsighted mother, a divorcee cow who dabbles in avant-garde art and a little, shy bald man who never speaks a word. Yes, it’s a bit rambling and convoluted, but it all adheres together remarkably well and de Crecy’s art is lovely to behold.

For my splurge item, I guess I’ll go with IDW’s sixth volume of Little Orphan Annie, even though I’m about five volumes behind. Still, it’s not like I’m not going to buy the whole shebang some day.

Brigid Alverson

Twin Spica

If I had $15…

Unlike some people here, I’d have no problem spending it. I’ll start with the fifth volume of Twin Spica ($10.95), Kou Yaginuma’s wonderful story of a girl who wants to be an astronaut in the Japanese space program. Then I’d buy the fourth and final issue of Scratch 9 ($3.95) Rob Worley and Jason Kruse’s high-spirited comic about a cat who gets to meet his previous incarnations (taking that nine-lives thing literally).

If I had $30…

I like Graphic Universe’s Holmes and Watson adaptations, and my nephew will love them even more, so I’ll get the latest one, On the Case with Holmes and Watson: The Sussex Vampire ($6.95) to read with him. Then the first issue of Who Is Jake Ellis ($2.99); I liked Nathan Edmondson‘s The Light, and this series, with its psychic/spy match-up, looks like a good bet. And finally, I’ll grab the Betty & Veronica Digest #187 ($3.99), because while it isn’t too cerebral, it guarantees me an hour or so of solid enjoyment.

Splurge…

Put me down for the Complete Little Orphan Annie as well ($49.95). IDW’s Library of American Comics volumes are hard to beat. The quality is great and the background materials are interesting and well researched (at least the ones I have seen), so I really can’t go wrong with this.

JK Parkin

Thanos Imperative: Devastation

Yeah, somehow I don’t think I’ll have any trouble spending my limit either. I’d start by spending my $15 on the Thanos Imperative: Devastation one-shot ($4.99), which bridges the gap between the Thanos Imperative and the upcoming Annihilators miniseries. I’d also grab the first issue of DC’s new miniseries, Weird Worlds ($3.99), mostly because of the Kevin Maguire story but the others look like they could be fun, too. Irredeemable #21 ($3.99), as we showed you on Sunday, looks good, and I’d round it out with the third issue of Superboy ($2.99).

If I had $30, I’d get all those titles and add in Walking Dead #80, iZombie #9 and Who Is Jake Ellis #1, all of which are $2.99. I’d also like to get Generation Hope #3. I wasn’t sold on the first couple issues, but as I just read the latest Uncanny X-Men trade over the holidays, which introduces several of the new mutant characters, I’m a lot more interested and plan to reread the first two issues. That leaves me with $3, and both the books I’m looking at for my last purchase, Billy the Kid’s Old Timey Oddities and the Ghastly Fiend of London #4 and Avengers Children’s Crusade #4, are $3.99 … but maybe one of my fellow bloggers will lend me a buck from their leftover cash?

For my splurge item, it’s easy — the Madame Xanadu trade ($17.99) which is how I’ve been buying this series anyway.

In honor of Robot 666 Week and 31 Days of High Moon, artist Steve Ellis walks you through the process of drawing famed vampire Nosferatu. Check it out above!

Also, David and Steve are giving away a bag of High Moon swag to anyone who changes their icon to something High Moon related on Facebook or Twitter. Find all the details on their blog.

Vampire Batman

There is a fundamental tension between the horror and superhero genres. Clearly the two aren’t incompatible, but in the stories which blend them, often one genre will dominate. At the risk of gross oversimplification, there’s no guarantee of a horror story having a happy ending; whereas superhero stories are generally about saving the day. Put another way, superheroes generally stop monsters.

Such was the case with 1991′s graphic novel Batman & Dracula: Red Rain, in which the Lord of Vampires comes to Gotham City. Red Rain was written by longtime Bat-scribe Doug Moench, boasted the distinctively eerie pencils of Kelley Jones, and polished off its sinister, downbeat mood through Malcolm Jones III’s inks, Les Dorscheid’s colors, and Todd Klein’s letters. SPOILERS FOLLOW … but is not much of a spoiler to note that Batman defeats Dracula, because a) that is what Batman does, and b) Tomb of Dracula notwithstanding, that is how Drac usually winds up. Furthermore, Red Rain was far from the Darknight Detective’s only run-in with more malevolent creatures of the night, because he’d been fighting vampires and werewolves as far back as 1939′s Detective Comics #30.

No, what makes Red Rain and its two sequels different is their overwhelming sense of doom. Red Rain is a superhero horror story which eventually turns Batman’s world inside-out more than any traditional deconstruction ever could.

* * *

Red Rain’s Batman trappings are fairly familiar. It’s an anything-goes Elseworlds, but it’s not an Elseworlds where (for example) Bruce Wayne’s parents were killed by vampires, Gotham is a Romanian castle, and/or the world is dominated by dark magic. By all indications, this Batman is pretty much the same one from the regular monthly comics, and may in fact be more skeptical about the true nature of his foe than “our” Batman would be about such things. This approach reinforces the sense that the story will play by “superhero” rules. Paradoxically, though, because the name Dracula carries such weight, it hints that Batman and his allies don’t quite get how hard their task will be.

The plot is straightforward. Dracula plans a “harvest of Gotham,” so his onetime disciple Tanya recruits Batman. Tanya has weaned herself off human blood by creating a synthetic substitute, but she still has all the traditional vampire powers, and appears first to Bruce Wayne as a dreamlike apparition. Of course, Tanya is really making more substantive visits to Bruce’s bedroom, with predictable results. In his final confrontation with Dracula, Batman has the strength and abilities of a vampire, but the fight still takes a terrible toll. Although Dracula’s body has been immolated, while impaled on a giant spike of dead oak, Batman has lost a tremendous amount of blood; and Alfred discovers his master motionless on the forest floor. Later, Alfred explains that there was “no spark of life” within Batman — but the reanimated hero clarifies that he is dead. More specifically, “Bruce Wayne may be gone … but the Batman will go on … forever.” In Red Rain’s last panel, he flashes his fangs for emphasis.

While the image of a vampire Batman is shocking, it’s not unique to Red Rain. “Our” Batman was transformed into a vampire in and around September 1982′s Batman #351, and was cured with Robin’s help. Again, though, that was the regular series. Red Rain is free to leave Batman in a vastly different place than where it found him. In order to destroy Dracula’s hordes, Batman and Tanya lure them into the Batcave, where they’re exposed to sunlight when Batman blows up Wayne Manor. Similarly, whatever “normal” part of Batman which is expressed through Bruce is likewise obliterated by the end of Red Rain.

This becomes a critical element of the second book, 1994′s Bloodstorm.* In it we see that Batman is no longer satisfied by Tanya’s blood substitute (Tanya herself having died for good in Red Rain), and he’s struggling with the need to feed even as he relishes eliminating Gotham’s underworld. Meanwhile, the still-human Joker gathers his own vampiric gang; and Alfred and Commissioner Gordon wonder when they’ll have to destroy their undead friend.

Bloodstorm postulates that Batman’s salvation is personified by — surprise! — Selina Kyle, who in this version of events was never Catwoman, but who (naturally) is transformed into a were-cat by one of Gotham’s new monsters. In fact, none of the usual sanctified defenses (e.g., crosses and holy water) repel the vampire Batman. With Selina to take his mind off dietary concerns, Batman hasn’t tasted human blood, and his heart remains pure. Unfortunately, Selina ends up taking a wooden crossbow bolt the Joker meant for Batman, and her death drops Batman over the edge. In his fury he snaps the Joker’s neck, drinks the villain’s blood, and stakes the madman before he too can become a vampire. Batman then returns to his crypt and leaves Alfred a note: “[d]o not fail me when I need you most.” Alfred and Gordon each drive stakes into Batman, ostensibly giving him eternal peace ….

… but we know better, because 1999′s Crimson Mist** finds Gotham once again overrun with horrific interpretations of Batman’s rogues’ gallery. With Killer Croc, the Riddler, Poison Ivy, the Scarecrow, and Two-Face wreaking havoc, and Alfred plagued by nightmares, the Waynes’ ex-butler wrenches the stake from Batman’s body. Alfred had figured that because Batman’s only victim was the Joker, he hadn’t gone over completely to the dark side; but the red-eyed Batman explains angrily that the stake was the only thing keeping Batman’s heart from pumping the Joker’s evil blood. Even so, Batman sets some boundaries, only slaughtering the super-criminals and the inmates of Arkham Asylum.

Appropriately enough, Crimson Mist’s climax finds everyone in the ruins of the Batcave, where once again Gordon, Alfred, and their involuntary allies Two-Face and Killer Croc try to blow a big enough skylight in the cavern’s ceiling. However, the fight with Croc leaves Batman too weakened to take on Two-Face, who’s turned on Gordon. To save Gordon’s life, Alfred volunteers his own blood to replenish Batman’s strength. It all ends up with Gordon and Batman locked in a deadly struggle, Batman simultaneously offering Gordon a chance to rule at his side and indicating how horrible that fate would be. “Kill me now … or help me exterminate the human race!” the vampire cries. Gordon sets off the explosives — but they’re only powerful enough to crush the Commissioner under a massive boulder. Finally, having killed (or contributed to the death of) pretty much everyone around him, including all Gotham’s other superhuman evildoers, Batman walks into the sunlight, disintegrating as he goes, embracing “the unknown fate of nothingness.”

* * *

Therefore, it’s fair to describe the “Vampire Batman” trilogy as one of many alternate realities where everyone dies. Certainly Moench, Jones, et al., aren’t afraid of taking “what if Batman were a vampire?” to an extremely bloody and tragic conclusion.  Furthermore, it’s clear that the vampire Batman was thisclose to putting a whole new set of supernatural tricks in his formidable arsenal. Red Rain ends with Batman physically changed but morally intact (pretty much); and if the Joker hadn’t killed the Cat-Woman, the trilogy (had there even been a third book) might have been vastly different.

It’s just as clear, though, that Moench and Jones wanted Vampire Batman to be, well, vastly different from the regular version — and, in the end, pretty repulsive to boot. I’m pretty sure Bruce Wayne only appears unmasked in Red Rain, and for much of Crimson Mist Batman is hardly human, slaughtering criminals as a literal bat-creature. Indeed, as Bruce goes, so go the “superhero rules” by which Red Rain initially seems to play. The true horror of Red Rain is the realization that it was never a superhero story — that Bruce/Batman, for all his intellect and planning, has been drawn inevitably and irrevocably into the waking nightmare of the undead.

Of course, between Red Rain and Bloodstorm, Moench would go on to write Bruce out of the regular Bat-books for a while, replacing the wheelchair-bound billionaire with a hyper-violent apprentice. Still, Vampire Batman is not really the kind of cautionary “be careful what you wish for” tale that “Knightquest” and “KnightsEnd” were. For one thing, the work of Jones and the inkers and colorists is simply too visceral to put a “cool” sheen on all the carnage. These books succeed admirably at being scary, and at depicting a Bat-world gone beyond all sense of sanity. The Joker’s style recalls the classic silent film London After Midnight, and the question mark stitched across the Riddler’s face prefigures Colin Farrell’s Bullseye makeup. It’s an aesthetic few other artists could match, and it sells the story immensely.

Regardless, this is hardly a pleasant story. By the end of Crimson Mist the narrative threatens to descend into pulpish penny-dreadful territory, shocking for its own sake. Even Batman’s final sacrifice, noble as it is, comes as the last act of a creature desperate to escape any more torment. Crimson Mist itself is somewhat redundant, if not gratuitous, considering that the previous book ended with Gordon, Alfred, and Batman similarly situated.  The overarching message is that there is no escape from, or cure for, vampirism — which, presumably, is meant as an extension of the dark tightrope the regular Batman walks.

Thus, the tragedy of Vampire Batman isn’t that he was consumed by evil, it’s that he was doomed practically from the start. Red Rain, Bloodstorm, and Crimson Mist paint an apocalyptic picture of the end of Batman’s career, as a superhero is literally transformed into a demonic avenger, eradicating all Gotham’s monsters … including himself.

+++++++++++++++++++

* [Bloodstorm was inked by John Beatty.]

** [Crimson Mist was inked by Beatty and colored by Gregory Wright.]

Becky Cloonan’s “Sluts of Dracula” post hinted that this might be on the way, and behold, it’s a thing of beauty: Historical and literary gag cartoonist extraordinaire Kate Beaton takes on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the Victorian classic of horror and sex (and horror of sex). She nails it. Or drives a stake through it, whichever. Read the whole thing.

One of the few drawings from Becky Cloonan's SLUTS OF DRACULA gallery we can show you on this blog

“Sluts of Dracula” is totally today’s phrase that pays. Seriously, if I were a publisher I’d greenlight a book called Sluts of Dracula sight unseen. Of course, since the phrase was coined by cartoonist Becky Cloonan — who then provided ample, gorgeous, gloriously NSFW illustrations of the concept — it really wouldn’t be that much of a risk.

American Vampire, Vol. 1

Bestselling author Stephen King, whose vast body of work includes Salem’s Lot, has some strong opinions about vampires. So it comes as little surprise that he would voice those views in an interview promoting the hardcover collection of American Vampire, the Vertigo series whose initial story arc he co-wrote, and in his introduction to the first volume.

“A traditional vampire is always a taker, and that’s the story of American expansion and laissez-faire and the rise of industrialism,” King tells USA Today, referring to his Western outlaw Skinner Sweet. “The idea that he wants to come back and get his vengeance and he wants to get it as fast as he can and as harshly as he can, that’s a very American desperado thing.”

In the collection’s foreword, reprinted at EW.com, King takes aim at the likes of Twilight and True Blood: “Here’s what vampires shouldn’t be: pallid detectives who drink Bloody Marys and only work at night; lovelorn southern gentlemen; anorexic teenage girls; boy-toys with big dewy eyes. What should they be? Killers, honey. Stone killers who never get enough of that tasty Type-A. Bad boys and girls. Hunters. In other words, Midnight America. Red white and blue, accent on the red. Those vamps got hijacked by a lot of soft-focus romance.”

Read the full introduction at EW.com. American Vampire, Vol. 1, by King, Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque, is in stores today.

Dark Horse's teaser for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" #37

On the heels of Georges Jeanty’s cover for Buffy the Vampire Slayer #36, Dark Horse has fired another good-natured shot at Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight empire with a promo for Issue #37, the second part of the final arc of the bestselling Season Eight.

See the full image after the break. Buffy the Vampire Slayer #37 is due in stores on Oct. 6.

"Don't Get Emo. Get Even."

This is All You'll Ever Read Again

The summer is ending, and we’re not so bad off, are we? There’s a cosmic war, Spider-Man’s re-reinventing himself again, there’s an event book with an oncoming slew of tie-in titles, but it all doesn’t feel like the years of yore. There’s no pressure to keep up with any of this; instead of seeing a Broadway production, we’ve got tickets off Broadway, so it’s a little experimental, a lot less expensive and not the main stage. But, in a way, just as important.

This is indeed the week we look at the future and what Marvel has in store for us, but it’s nice to know that from where we are now, the holidays look to be rather pleasant. There’s no great drop to be looking at as the year ends, just more changes and more stories and for some reason, that’s a lot less pressure.

Unless you’re a Thor fan, then you’ve got eight titles to sort through. Yeesh.

Let’s take a look at November and see what’s ahead for the House of Ideas, shall we?

Okay, it looks like November’s theme is gods and monsters, as the really big events deal in Vampires, Demons and Gods. Vampires are still on the loose in both the Ultimate universe and the Adjectiveless X-Men title, and both present the final steps in their master plans; ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS 3 #4 (of 6) has an incredible amount of numbers in the title as well as a letter: Vampire X! From the solicitation: “With Cap bitten, the super-soldier is turning into a super-vampire and the stakes are even higher. Blade finally reveals Vampire X’s true intentions, but can the heroes stop this mysterious enemy- – or are they one bite closer to an eternity of immortal behavior?” Love him or hate him, Mark Millar does big wide-screen action like no one else in comics today, so I’m pretty sure that he can escape the current ‘vampire tropes’ haunting our pop culture to bring you something worthy of his previous Ultimates series.

Over in 616, the Vampires also have turned a hero to their side, but they go one further and dare to think they’ve turned a villain too. From the solicitation for X-MEN #5: “The Vampire Nation’s army is unleashed on Utopia, with vampire Wolverine leading the charge – and, boy, does he have a bone to pick with Cyclops! Meanwhile, the newly resurrected Dracula is nowhere to be found. So why is Cyclops smiling?” Because he thinks Dracula’s going to be the wildcard that gives him enough breathing room to turn the tide of battle. Or maybe because Wolverine’s healing factor has gotten so ridiculous of late, he’s only pretending to be a vampire so that he’ll be the one to turn the tide. Either way, the entry-level X-Men book keeps rolling along. Compare and contrast the two books at your leisure in November.

Shadowland will be infuriating everyone by ending the DAREDEVIL title with issue #512. “Hell’s Kitchen lies in ruins, and it is up to the people of New York to start anew and begin rebuilding. In this last chapter of his story, will Matt Murdock at last find final redemption for the events of SHADOWLAND?” Personally, I hope not. There’s only so many ‘the hero’s gone crazy, but in the end we forgive him and get back to normal’ stories one can read and really, the cycle should end. Give Daredevil that happy ending he should have had at the end of Born Again. Sure, he won’t be walking down the streets of Hell’s Kitchen with Karen Page, but can we at least get him a Hawaiian vacation? Two tickets to a day spa?

In both the God and Monster categories is THOR #617, as an unspeakable evil crawls its way down Norse mythology: “THE WORLD EATERS continue their rampage down the World Tree on an unstoppable blitz to Asgard. The magnificient residents of the nine worlds flee their rampage… coming to Asgard for protection. Can the Fallen City protect the exiles of seven worlds from an unimaginable evil?” I’ll admit it right now: I’m going to be a mark for Matt Fraction’s Thor so consider my reviews anything but reasonable. so, while this pulse-pounding issue is will most certainly cure cancer and bring peace across the globe, what I want to look at is something up in the credits: the “Tron Variant” cover with artist TBA. Now yes, we’ve got a longboatload of Thor books this month and it’s Deadpoolian in the depth and breadth, but why are they putting out all these books? The movie buzz. So that leaked trailer that made the rounds on the Internets for a half an hour? Go get your Tron in theaters on December 17th to see it on the big screen.

So we have Thor, the God of Thunder this month, plus the demi-god of the ’90s: Thunderstrike. Holy crap, they’re bringing Thunderstrike back. Holy crap, they’re giving Tom DeFalco another book besides Spider-Girl! From the solicitation: “Has the time finally come for someone else to follow Eric’s journey and take on the mantle of Thunderstrike? Join us as the Marvel Universe welcomes back the everyman Avenger, THUNDERSTRIKE!” Now, while debatable (I’d say it was Hawkeye), the idea of the everyman Avenger is fantastic in a world filled to the brim with Avengers and Avengers accessories. Earth’s Mightiest Heroes should have a rookie/schlub/guy-with-a-bow so that those who have fantstic powers seem more fantastic without losing the reader’s perspective. While Thunderstrike isn’t my first choice, Tom DeFalco is definitely my first choice to bring some old school Avengers stories back into the reader’s spotlight with THUNDERSTRIKE #1.

Now mind you, there’s God and Monsters all over November (Bill Willingham on a Warriors Three title, the end of the Thanos Imperative, your Chaos War, etc.), but there’s also the 150th issue of Ultimate Spider-Man (feel old with me and celebrate the 10th year anniversary of Ultimate Comics imprint!), a brand-new and somewhat all different Spider-Girl title, Kelly Sue DeConnick on an Osborn mini-series, and most important: the return of DOCTOR BONG! Despite the lack of a major event wrap up or senses-shattering finale, the holiday season maybe just as exciting (if not more) than past years. Maybe we don’t need major crossovers and universe changing moments to put out a ton of books that will hopefully find an audience. And that, my dear reader, is the brightest day we could have.

Go and feast your eyes on the House of Thor and friends here with the big list of Marvel’s November 2010 solicitations and make not eof what you’re marking your calenders for in the comments. Excelsior!

Viz Media

Publishers | Viz Senior Vice President and General Manager Alvin Lu discusses the state of the company after the layoffs that occurred in May, as well as the overall manga market. “We continue to get great support from our retail partners. They do see that these very popular series continue to do well. They are getting up there in the 40s and 50s of the volume count, and there is the challenge of bringing in newer readers, to catch them up. I was looking though a calendar from several years ago when we were looking at Bleach Vol. 5 or something. That is a conversation we’ve been having with the bookstores, and they’re being very responsive on how to work with us, to continue to drive the category. They’ve been very supportive of helping us launch new series as well. So it’s a balancing act of getting the space to launch new series while nurturing the more mature series that continue to enjoy a loyal readership.” [ICv2]

Events | Brian Heater from the Daily Cross Hatch and Sarah Morean from Blog Chicka Blog Blog have declared Aug. 28 “International Read Comics in Public” Day. They’ve started a blog that features, as you might guess, people reading comics in public. [Daily Cross Hatch]

Wednesday Comics

Publishing | Ada Price talks to DC Comics art director and Wednesday Comics editor Mark Chiarello about the project, asking if there’s any word about a sequel. “There’s some talk about it. I think the only reason to do it would be to do it as good, if not better than the first series, and that’s going to be difficult,” Chiarello said. [Publishers Weekly]

Publishing | A profile of Richelle Mead, author of the Vampire Academy series of books, reveals that a graphic novel version is due in August 2011. [Kansascity.com]

Conventions | Gregory Schmidt talks to companies like Mattel and Warner Bros. about how they market to girls at Comic-Con International. [New York Times]

Digital comics | Todd Allen talks to Robert Jacobi, an example of a “lapsed comics reader that the iPad apps were supposed to connect with.” [Publishers Weekly]

Steve Englehart

Creators | Writer Steve Englehart continues to share stories from his early days as a comics writer in a new column for Tor.com. “Many people today are amazed at this. ‘They gave you an established icon like Captain America and said do whatever you want?’ Yes, they did. And when I did make the book sell and did meet my deadlines, they gave me The Hulk and The Avengers and a whole lot more. I’ve talked about how writing periodicals teaches you to write. I should add that complete freedom lets you explore anything that seems like a good idea without once looking over my shoulder or second-guessing myself. So when I wrote comics, I lived in the moment, letting my stories tell me what to write about, riffing off the zeitgeist month by month.” [Tor.com]

Creators | Jesse Blaze Snyder talks about his family, reality TV and his comic book writing. [The Beat]

Creators | Robot 6 contributor Brigid Alverson talks to Rob Worley about creating the all-ages comic Scratch9. [Publishers Weekly]

Creators | Douglas Wolk interviews Scott Snyder about his upcoming run on Detective Comics. [Techland]

Comics | David Brothers offers a detailed analysis of previous Top Cow Pilot Season winner Genius by Marc Bernardin, Adam Freeman and Afua Richardson: “Richardson’s approach to violence is both matter-of-fact and highly stylized. Richardson’s freeze frames of violence aren’t sensational or overly gory, but her just-shy-of-realistic art makes ‘Genius’ look almost like a really high quality animated movie. While the big bangs are what push the plot forward, Richardson renders lower key moments just as well. Destiny’s way of thinking is presented in an inventive visual shorthand that is instantly understandable and worthy of poring over. [ComicsAlliance]

Comics | Jeffery Klaehn names the greatest comic-book super-teams. [Pop]

Jubilee is with Team Edward

Neil Gaiman thinks modern vampires suck.

And not in a good way, but in a weak, namby-pamby embarrassing kind of way. They have sullied the good name of Dracula and horror antagonists everywhere!

Okay, maybe he didn’t say that, maybe it was better put and far more eloquent or politely than I would have said, but a gist could be taken. From the interview in The Independent:

He said he hoped that mainstream culture would lose its interest in the undead so that vampire fiction could regain its potency. “Maybe it’s time for this to play out and go away. It’s good sometimes to leave the field fallow. I think some of this stuff is being over-farmed,” he said.

He also said far more damningly:

“My next big novel was going to have a vampire. Now, I’m probably not. They are everywhere, they’re like cockroaches.”

Yikes, cockroaches? Really? I’d say that’s a bit iffy on the eloquent and probably not polite. I certainly know enough Gaiman fans who feel a little more than put out by the shelving of what could be another incredible story from an unbelievably popular writer because of Stephanie Meyer’s work. Should we put the vampire genre, like Gaiman says, “back underground for another 20 years or another 25 years.” Will a whole new generation have to discover the fascination of the alluring and inhuman, the forces of will, the metaphor of sexual awakening and the ancient mythology of human hunters in the night because of the Cullens?

Let’s read X-Men #1 and find out!

(WARNING: Surprise! There are spoilers for X-Men #1 ahead. No, not the one from 1991. Certainly not the one from 1963! No, these would be the new X-Men… wait. No. Let me come in again…)

Okay, for those of you living under a very small rock, there’s a new ‘adjective-less’ X-Men in town with an all-new, mostly different #1 issue. Not only can you snag an alternate cover or four, but this is a jumping-on point for those of you who might have heard the X-Men moved and got an all-new look, but lost track of a “Second Coming” chapter. This will be your standard X-Men book, with a roster of popular mutants both young and old, and a cool new story that appeals to an immensely popular demographic. Just as popular as Deadpool alternate covers are vampire fans, what with Twilight’s latest film Eclipse getting close to 200 million dollars in domestic box office cash. I know, let that sink in a bit.

So yeah, Marvel’s going to grab some of that hot vampire action! The X-Men even have a history with vampires, facing Dracula himself first in Uncanny X-Men #159, then again in a personal favorite, Uncanny X-Men Annual #6.   The House of Ideas have dabbled and danced with the supernatural, so saying this is a quick hook for a popular fad would be possibly true, but more than surface deep. Just ask Mark Millar. Last year, Captain Britain and MI:13 gave us one of the most fascinating vampire stories in a long time, adding superstition and space to create a threat that loomed over us from the moon itself. Vampires were bound by rituals, created from ancient Atlantis by demonic Elder Gods. Doctor Strange has banished them with ancient texts, Hannibal King was cured of his blood-sucking curse, and I don’t think I need to mention Blade. Vampires have loomed and lurked and struck out from the darkest depths of the House of Ideas so a new story using that rich background in this prime market of vampire heat is a great idea.

Maybe we shouldn’t wait for the vampire craze to die down before we see the predatory undead stalk us in our fiction again. If vampires need to terrorize us once more rather than dazzle us with their hair gel, then maybe we should face front and write some spooky vampire stories. Hiding the myth under the bed until it looks new and fresh to readers again might save Neil Gaiman from being lumped into a genre he’s not fond of, but it shouldn’t stop him from telling a story because of what people might think of him. There are probably writers out there who wouldn’t touch comics because they’re ‘kids’ stuff’ who are missing out on the medium, so let’s not judge a book by its cover this time.

Let’s read it! This week’s X-Men #1 is written by award-winning novelist Victor Gischler and penciled by Deadpool artist Paco Medina. The story centers around a “Dracula problem” as a vampire blood bomber explodes in public, catching former mutant Jubilee in the blast. Maybe she got some in her mouth, maybe she scraped her knee in the blast, maybe it got in her nose, all of these are possibilities from Dr. Kavita Rao as she explains to Cyclops that Jubilee is infected with vampirism. Where as Storm was enthralled to Dracula, unable to resist in Bela Lugosi-mesmerism fashion, Jubilee risks transformation. Other San Franciscans who were caught in the same blast have been lured in by a big scary monster, who rose up out of the ocean, and his well-dressed vampire buddies, so the X-Men have gotten the hint. Wolverine takes off his cowboy hat and goes tracking with Angel and Pixie, finding a blood bank of thralls (I assume from the hangings on the wall and the big leather straps) and a low-level vamp who is no match for ol’ Canucklehead. As Logan gives his report to Cyclops, Jubilee looks at what may be her last sunset.

X-Men Annual #6 & current X-Men #1

A start, a smidgen of a storyline, backed up by back matter in the form of ads for an upcoming onslaught of mini-series, as well as Uncanny’s “The Five Lights” storyline and the “Fall of the New Mutants.” Also, a preview of Shadowland. This issue is highly designed for the current vampire craze: there are two sympathetic teenage characters in the form of Pixie and Jubilee, fight scenes are short and flashy, vampire motives are easy to recognize and ads, ads, ads! It’s a Marvel comics intro book, and I have no problem with those. I like new customers and if there’s a way to hook new readers, I tend to jump on board. That said, this issue is kind of dull. The rules of vampirism seem changed from previous Marvel comics, nothing of importance happens outside of Jubilee’s infection and it’s got 14 pages worth of preview material. Since the penultimate chapter of “Second Coming” came out at the same time, I’m not sure how far ahead of that this storyline is. Also, I can never tell when Warren Worthington is going to be Angel or Archangel, it just seems to be when thematically appropriate. Is Jubilee the same age as Pixie? Why’d they let her go on the mission to hunt down vampires? Why did Cyclops totally shut down a friend, former team leader and freakin’ queen? All in all, not much for your $3.99 price tag and the discerning Marvel zombie.

But this book isn’t for us. It’s for new readers. It’s for the Twilight market and comic market speculators. These are Gaiman’s cockroach ‘modern vampires’, where you’re infected and inconvenienced by your transformation instead of terrified. Trapped in a world they did not choose, an uncomfortable monster amongst other people, given otherworldly freedoms and strict rules, both beautiful and troubled. And isn’t that what being a mutant is all about?

–writer Neil Gaiman, on the vast army of fictional vampires infiltrating pop culture

Dracula: The Company Of Monsters

Astro City writer Kurt Busiek and novelist Daryl Gregory are teaming up on a new Dracula title, Dracula: The Company Of Monsters — coming from BOOM! Studios in August.

“So. I’m creating and co-writing a new series about a very, very old character, thrust into a modern world unfamiliar to him in a lot of surface ways, but very familiar underneath,” Busiek wrote on his blog this morning.

The book features art by Scott Godlewski and will “take you through the dark corridors of the corporate American boardroom and show you vampires aren’t the only kinds of bloodsuckers!” according to the press release.

“Dracula’s a character who’s always fascinated me,” Busiek said, “and getting a chance to build something firmly rooted in Dracula’s real-world (and Stoker-novel) history, but with a very modern edge, is the kind of creative challenge I love. It’s the world’s greatest vampire against the corporate world — and there’s no easy way to tell who’s the real villain, and who’s the hero. I’m thrilled to be working with Daryl, Scott and BOOM! on this. Putting it together feels like the early days of working on Conan, and I think the results are going to be a real treat for readers.”

Busiek has written everything from Avengers to Thunderbolts to Conan to DC’s Trinity series, as well as the creator-owned Astro City and an upcoming series from Wildstorm that used to be called American Gothic.

Gregory, a member of the Clockwork Storybook writing collective that includes Roberson, Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges, wrote the novels Pandemonium and The Devil’s Alphabet. He writes on his blog how novelist and comics writer Chris Roberson helped put him in touch with BOOM! editor Matt Gagnon.

“Kurt … came up with the idea, the background, the main characters, the outline of the plot–basically, the story bible,” he wrote. “Scott Godlewski is the artist. And me, I’ll be writing the word balloons. Now, that may sound like a trivial thing to you, mister, but I’m nervous but amped up beyond belief.”

The Color Purple

Amulet Books will pull yet another egg out from under their golden goose on November 9, when they release the fifth book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. The press release makes it seem like the big news is that the color scheme of the new book will be purple, and to be fair, that probably is the most important feature to the readers, who are already sold on the first-person tales of Greg Heffley, average guy. However, author Jeff Kinney also hints at a major shift in the relationship between Greg and his best friend Rowley; apparently, nothing will ever be the same again. Not something I was expecting from the Wimpy Kid books.

Can’t wait that long? You can scratch both the Twilight and the Wimpy Kid itch with a single parody, The Diary of a Wimpy Vampire which is just out this week; it’s from a British publisher but is supposed to be published internationally. According to the UK paper The Independent,

Aimed at kids aged 12-15, the book is called a “comic tale of a teenage vampire’s struggle with the angst and traumas of adolescence.” It focuses on Nigel Mullet, who was made into a vampire as a teenager and will therefore spend eternity at the awkward age of 15.

Now that is a fate worse than death. Speaking of which, if you’re thinking “Why didn’t someone do a zombie mashup of Wimpy Kid?” wonder no more; Papercutz has you covered.

(Hat tip: Martha Cornog.)

Namor #1 variant

Marvel.com has a brief write-up today on an ongoing Namor series that’s launching in August. Written by Stuart Moore and drawn by Ariel Olivetti, Namor: The First Mutant will tie into the big X-Men vs. vampires storyline, “The Curse of the Mutants”, that’ll run in the new X-Men title coming later this year.

Per Marvel.com, “Stuart Moore and Ariel Olivetti set the world’s first mutant on his most dangerous mission ever! Namor may be able to end the vampire threat, but is he willing to sacrifice Atlantis? And what can stop the threat of…the Atlantean vampires?” The first issue will have covers by Joe Quesada and Jae Lee.

Created by Bill Everett, Namor has appeared in a slew of ongoings, miniseries and team books over the years since his introduction way back in 1939, from Sub-Mariner Comics back in the 1940s to Namor, the Sub-Mariner in the 1990s. He’s been an Invader, an Avenger, a Defender and a member of the Illuminati, and most recently has been hanging out with the X-Men.