STYLE CENTURY MAGAZINE

The December 2007 issue of Style Century Magazine features my profile of Bloomsbury Auctions, a British antiquarian book auction house with offices in London and Rome, and their new office in New York City. It's my first work for the publication and I definitely hope to do more.

One of the truly neat features about the magazine is that it's available free of charge online. You can either look at it on the internet (it even lets you click to turn the pages) or you can download a full-color PDF of the whole thing in just seconds. It's really quite cool, so check it out!

You can find it at www.StyleCenturyMagazine.com.

Exclusive ZOMBIE-PROOF #2 Convention Sketch Edition

A special limited edition convention sketch cover version of Zombie-Proof #2 will be available November 16-18, 2007 at The National.

The convention, one of the regular Big Apple Con events, is held at Penn Plaza Pavillion, 401 Seventh Avenue at 33rd Street, directly across from Madison Square Garden.

Limited to 250 copies, this editon will sell for $15 each, and cover artist Billy Tucci (Shi, Sgt. Rock) will join Zombie-Proof creators J.C. Vaughn and Vincent Spencer in attendance at the show.

ZOMBIE-PROOF #2 Cover B (and other news)

Billy Tucci and Adam Bray really kicked it on the variant cover for Zombie-Proof #2. I'm really thrilled with it. Billy, Vincent Spencer and I will be at the Big Apple Con's "The National" show in New York City on November 16-18, 2007.

It ought to be great, particularly since we've added Well-Defined Productions' Cruise Director Michael A. Solof (you might know him as the Scoop convention photographer or the Bendis stalker immortalized in the first ever "all stalker" letters column in Powers #9) to our roster. Mike loves Zombie-Proof and he'll make you love it, too!

The Black Forest co-writer and Frankenstein and Me writer-director Robert Tinnell, The Wicked West co-writer and So, You've Downloaded a Demon writer-director Todd Livington, I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life & Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal co-producer Carey Ann Strelecki, and Geppi's Entertainment Museum curator and Zombie-Mania: 80 Movies to Die For co-author Dr. Arnold T. Blumberg have all contributed character and atmospheric blog entries to Zombie-Proof #2.

This issue will be on sale mid-November!

Zombie-Mania on Scoop

In addition to our own Zombie-Proof, we're big fans of the zombie genre, at least the good stuff. Helping you sort out the good undead from the plain old undead is Zombie-Mania - 80 Movies to Die For.

Zombie-Mania is written by Geppi's Entertainment Museum curator Dr. Arnold T. Blumberg and registrar Andy Hershberger and I talked with them for this Scoop interview a few weeks ago. Arnold also contributed one of the blogs posted in Zombie-Proof #2, as you'll see in a separate post.

I'd definitely like to recommend the book to anyone into the genre, and I hope you'll read the interview.

More DEAD INSPECTOR Developments

Filip is cranking out some sweet stuff for Dead Inspector. Take a look!

ZOMBIE-PROOF #2 Cover A

Vincent "Vinvent" Spencer's amazing cover to Zombie-Proof #2, on sale in November. Don't miss Vince, me or alternate cover artist Billy Tucci at the November 16-18, 2007 Big Apple Con in New York.

New DEAD INSPECTOR Sketches

Filip Sablik, Top Cow Productions' marketing supremo, is one of the good guys in this business. As many of you know, he's a talented artist, and he's also my partner on Dead Inspector, something we've been slowly developing for quite some time now. He frequently has new sketches from this project up on his blog, which you should definitely check out.

Billy Tucci meets ZOMBIE-PROOF!

If you've read his "Hellion for Hire" column on Newsarama or talked with him at shows (or, alternately, listened to my voice mail without my knowledge), you know that Shi creator and Sgt. Rock writer-aritst Billy Tucci had his own hand in the development of Billy Bob Driwahl, the star of Zombie-Proof. Now he's finally done his long-awaited cover. Here it is, colored by Adam Bray. Look for it on sale in November!

ANTIQUES On Sale Now

Finally! Antiques: The Comic Strip - Volume One is ready to roll. The finished product is beautiful and it's on sale now! Take a look at the complete story in this cool 80-page hard cover edition (with dust jacket) for just $14.95. Both the Fraim brothers and I are extremely happy with the book and we think you will be too. Give it a whirl! Either ask your comic shop to order it or visit the site and order online.

Writing the Ghost Who Walks

I had a great email conversation with Mike Bullock, the talented scribe of Moonstone's The Phantom. It was featured in Scoop's Main Event section. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Mike has been doing some amazing stuff with the character!

Sgt. Rock in Suburbia with Billy Tucci?

Billy Tucci, for whom I frequently write or co-write Shi, was announced at the Baltimore Comic-Con as the new writer-artist on DC's Sgt. Rock. It's going to be awesome. It features what some of us who know him think is his best art ever. He's had a couple of photo shoots that I am sure confused his neighbors... ace Scoop photographer and Well-Defined Productions cruise director Mike Solof was even in one of them.

Here's links to two pieces on Scoop about it:

Sgt. Rock in Suburbia

Sgt. Rock: Billy Tucci and the Lost Batallion

ZOMBIE-PROOF #2

Zombie-Proof #2
SEP073857
For 20 years, people thought locksmith Billy Bob Driwahl was at least a little crazybecause he offered the rather unusual service of "zombie-proofing" in his Yellow Pages ad. Now that the world's being overrun by zombies, things have changed. But how did he know beforehand?

It's Billy Bob and Rufus vs. the Mayor's idiot henchmen and a hoard of undead as the zombie crisis reaches San Rosina in full force. Can Billy Bob persuade his fellow citizens to zombie-proof their homes?

Ships with 50/50 covers, one by Zombie-Proof artist Vincent "Vinvent" Spencer and one by Zombie-Sama creator and newly announced Sgt. Rock artist Billy Tucci.

You can find Zombie-Proof #2 in the September 2007 PREVIEWS from Diamond Comic Distributors, DCD item code SEP073857, Page327 under MOONSTONE.

Cory Doctor Futuristic Tales Order Info

Cory Doctorow's Futuristic Tales of the Here and Now #2
IDW Publishing
Written by JCV, illustrated by Daniel Warner, cover by the ultra-cool Scott Morse. It's on Page 314 in the September 2007 PREVIEWS from Diamond Comic Distributors. The short story I adapted is "When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth." It's pretty cool.

Other JCV Projects

Here are the Diamond Comic Distributors item codes for my other projects:

Antiques: The Comic Strip (Vol. 1) JUL073588
Zombie-Proof #1 JUL073732
24: Nightfall TPB JUN073692
24 TPB JUL058364
Shi: Ju-Nen TPB OCT050019

CORY DOCTOROW’S FUTURISTIC TALES OF THE HERE AND NOW #2

Written by J.C. Vaughn, illustrated by Daniel Warner, and with a cover by Scott Morse, IDW Publishing continues to bring the stories of acclaimed science-fiction author Cory Doctorow with "When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth" that asks the question of who will keep the computers online when the end of the world comes? Winner of the Locus Award for best novelette of 2006. FC, $3.99, 32 pages, it's on Page 314 of the September 2007 PREVIEWS.

Since this is my first time adapting someone else's work, it was a very interesting experience to able to concentrate on the craft of writing the comic while staying faithful to Cory Doctorow's original short story. Additionally, it's a huge bonus for me to have a Scott Morse cover. Of his many impressive works, I liked his arc on Casefiles: Sam & Twitch best, but just about anything he's done has been worth checking out. I was on a panel with him before and he seemed as nice as he is talented.

ZOMBIE-PROOF #1 Exclusive for BALTIMORE COMIC-CON

From Moonstone Books, the exclusive Baltimore Comic-Con Edition of ZOMBIE-PROOF #1!

For 20 years, the denizens of San Rosina, Texas have thought locksmith Billy Bob Driwahl was at least a little crazy because he offered “zombie-proofing” in his Yellow Pages ad. Now that the world’s being overrun by zombies, though, he’s ready for them… but how did he know beforehand?

Zombie-Proof’s creators, J.C. Vaughn and Vincent Spencer, and cover artist Neil Vokes (The Black Forest) will be at this year’s show. The Zombie-Proof #1 Baltimore Comic-Con Edition is limited to 500 copies.

24: Nightfall Trade Paperback on Sale This Week

On sale Wednesday, August 8, 2007, is the new trade paperback from IDW Publishing, 24: Nightfall. It collects the prequel mini-series to the hit Fox show. It's written by me with Mark L. Haynes and illustrated by Jean Diaz.

Zombie-Proof #1 Off to the Printer

Here's the final versions of the covers. The book is set to debut at the Baltimore Comic-Con, September 8-9, 2007. Here's a look at the covers, provided by the fine folks at Moonstone Books. And there's one more announcement regarding this issue coming soon!

Cory Doctorow’s Futuristic Tales of the Here and Now

A very interesting mini-series from IDW Publishing, Cory Doctorow’s Futuristic Tales of the Here and Now includes one issue written by me, with a cover by the incredible Scott Morse. My pal, Jim Kuhoric, also wrote an issue of the series.

Happy Fourth of July!

ZOMBIE-PROOF #1 in PREVIEWS

Zombie-Proof #1 is featured in the July 2007 PREVIEWS from Diamond Comic Distributors. It received a "Staff Pick" (on Page 264) and a "Spotlight" (Page 325) in this issue. It's listed under Moonstone, due on sale in September, and planned to debut at the Baltimore Comic-Con, September 8-9, 2007.

Recent coverage includes the following outlets offering the comic:

Comicbooknews.us

Comicscontinuum.com

Paragon Comics

Major Spoilers

Westfield Comics

If you're a retailer offering Zombie-Proof #1, please send me a link and we'll post it here, too!

ANTIQUES Gets Collected

Antiques: The Comic Strip - Volume 1 is in now featured in the July 2007 PREVIEWS from Diamond Comic Distributors, listed on Page 304 under Gemstone Publishing in the Comics section.

It's an 80-page hardcover with dust jacket the collects the complete first story from this Harvey Award-nominated strip.

Here's the story:

The death of billionaire Jackson Reynolds throws his impossibly high-grade collection of pop culture artifacts into most comprehensive auction the world has ever seen and attracts competitors from around the globe, including a colorful cast of interested parties who are not what they seem…

Packed with real life guest starts and cameos from the world of collecting – including legendary Spider-Man, X-Men and Fantastic Four creator Stan Lee – Antiques introduces readers to Reginald Winston and William Winston. The last members of a once-proud transatlantic family, other than blood they have three things in common. First, they’re both antiques dealers. Reginald is a fine antiques dealer in London; William is a junk dealer in Chicago. Second, they don’t speak. Third, they’ve each got a secret.

Then comes Suzie Magee, the beautiful expert hired to supervise the mammoth security concerns of the auction. Once they meet her, they suddenly have another thing in common.

Beginning in June 2006, Antiques: The Comic Strip ran weekly in Antique Trader, the 50-year-old grandfather of weekly antiquing publications in the U.S. Each week, readers got a dose of the behind-the-scenes action at the mythical largest auction ever held.

This hardcover edition also comes with plenty of extras including the non-continuity Christmas and New Year’s strips, a character key and index, a step-by-step guide to the one character who keeps appearing in disguise throughout the story, the exclusive strip that appeared only in the Baltimore Comic-Con 2006 program book, and even one strip that has never previously appeared.

The book should be available at your local comic shop. You find the nearest comic shop by using the free Comic Shop Locator Service, or you can order directly from Gemstone Publishing (free shipping until 8/31/07).

The official debut of the book is set for Septmeber 8-9, 2007 at the Baltimore Comic-Con, and it's scheduled to go on sale no later than September 15, 2007.

Here are some of the outlets covering Antiques or offering the collection:
Wizard Universe
Baker's Dozen
Scoop (about the release)
Scoop (about the Stan Lee strip)
Toy Collector Magazine (see full TCM post below)
Comicon.com
Harvey Awards
CGC eNewsletter

If your store is offering the book, send me a link and I'll post it here!

Toy Collector Magazine features ANTIQUES

The second issue of the internet-based periodical that is taking the collecting world by storm, Toy Collector Magazine, is now available and it features a very kind article on Antiques: The Comic Strip - Volume 1.

If you're not yet familiar with TCM, you take a moment and visit it. You can view the magazine in two ways. It's available in a Flash-based format that allows you to turn the pages with just a click, or you can download a beatiful, printable PDF documen of the entire issue. You'll find the story about Antiques on Pages 113-115, along with a number of other captivating features, including one on the Star Wars exhibit at Geppi's Entertainment Museum. You can also sign up to get regular notices about TCM, which I thoroughly recommend.

DEAD INSPECTOR Sneek Peek #2

As I've mentioned previously, Filip Sablik is knocking himself out doing regular sketches for his blog as we develop Dead Inspector. Thus far, it's going really well. Both of us having full-time jobs in the industry (he's VP of Marketing for Top Cow, I'm Executive Editor & Associate Publisher of Gemstone) and other freelance gigs, so this project is actually because we love it. I think that shows in Filip's daily sketches. You should check them out and get to know his work. He's honing his craft with each passing page and we'll all reap the rewards. In this particular sketch, we see the "cold case" assignment that starts the whole story off... More soon! (I just wrote another five pages of this one, so I know there's more coming!)

BEAU SMITH Covers ZOMBIE-PROOF

Beau Smith, better known to his regular readers as "the last real man in comics," has an excellent weekly column called "Busted Knuckes." I'm not certain, but I think the first place he used that title was Overstreet's Fan, back when I was Assocaite Editor. It was in there, regardless, whether it was the first place or just a stop along the trail. Anyhow, Beau has been entirely supportive in his coverage of Zombie-Proof. He was the first one to cover it, and now that it's officially rolling he gave us another great plug, this time in a column also featuring the high-profile 30 Days of Night.

You Are Getting Sleepy

MORE Sites Cover ZOMBIE-PROOF!

More notices for Zombie-Proof...? Ay-yup!

Union de Bloggers Hispanos
(Muchos gracias, amigos! Lo siento, pero yo hablo esapnol muy mal.)

Top Blog Area

Crusade Fine Arts Forum - Comics & Film section

Paper Films Forum - J.C. Vaughn section

Andy Wood from Gamer's Circle
(Already noted for supporting us, now just doing so even more.)

ANTIQUES GETS HARVEY NOMINATION

The 2007 Harvey Awards Nominees have been announced with the release of the final ballot, presented by the Executive Committees of the Harvey Awards and the Baltimore Comic-Con. Named in honor of the late Harvey Kurtzman, one of the industry's most innovative talents, the Harvey Awards recognize outstanding work in comics and sequential art. They will be presented September 8, 2007 in Baltimore , MD , in conjunction with the Baltimore Comic-Con.

Nominations for the Harvey Awards are selected exclusively by creators – those who write, draw, ink, letter, color, design, edit or are otherwise involved in a creative capacity in the comics field. They are the only industry awards both nominated by and selected by the full body of comic book professionals. Professionals who participate will be joining nearly 2,000 other comics professionals in honoring the outstanding comics achievements of 2006.

BEST SYNDICATED STRIP OR PANEL
• ANTIQUES: THE COMIC STRIP J.C. Vaughn, Brendan Fraim & Brian Fraim Well-Defined Productions
• DOONESBURY Garry Trudeau Universal Press Syndicate
• THE K CHRONICLES Keith Knight United Comics / Salon.com
• MAAKIES Tony Millionaire Self-syndicated
• MUTTS Patrick McDonnell King Features Syndicate

GEMSTONE GETS 20 HARVEY NOMINATIONS!

Gemstone Publishing was nominated for 20 Harvey Awards in a variety of categories. They Disney comics (including The Life & Times of Scrooge McDuck Companion) lead the way, followed by The EC Archives and The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide also showing. Thanks to everyone who voted for us!

DEAD INSPECTOR Sneak Peek #1

Dead Inspector is a ways off yet (we're shooting for online in September 2007), but Filip Sablik is posting a character sketch just about every day over on his blog, and he's really capturing the spirit of the story. This sketch is of Ashley Kramer, the main character's girlfriend and pretty important character in her own rite.

Stop by Filip's page for more frequent updates, or check back here for some as well.

24: NIGHTFALL TRADE PAPERBACK in AUGUST

24: Nightfall is a prequel to the ongoing hit Fox television series. Before the clock started ticking on season one, Jack Bauer was the head of an elite Special Forces team sent to take down the mass-murder, Victor Drazen in the war-torn former Yugoslavia. Events quickly spiral out of control, as the hunters become the hunted and the truth behind the pivotal Operation: Nightfall is revealed.

The new 24: Nightfall trade paperback from IDW Publishing is featured in the June 2007 PREVIEWS from Diamond Comic Distributors. The new book collects the five-part series I co-wrote with Mark L. Haynes, with pencils and inks by Jean Diaz.
"IDW Publishing and its talented team takes the 24 fans to a place before the series begins- and the writers continue to deliver on the taut, engaging and almost addictive quality of 24 in this creative iteration. If you're a fan of the televison series 24- then this prequel will satisfy beyond expectations," Michael Peikoff, Vice-President 20th Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising, said upon last Fall's release of the mini-series featured in this collection.

Read the story that Fanboy TV's Oliver Tull described as "Power Jack Bauer!"

ZOMBIE-PROOF GETS NOTICED

A few sites, including Gamer's Circle (the first to start promoting us), have started to take notice of Zombie-Proof. We're really thrilled about the reaction since it's at least four weeks before the July 2007 issue of PREVIEWS hits the stands. Click the names below to see the news!

Gamers Circle

Comic World News

The Pulse

ComicMonsters.com

PulpComic

You can also talk about the comic on the Moonstone forums!

JCV on FANBOY TV

Oliver Tull and Meg Fischer hosted me on the May 24, 2007 edition of Fanboy TV to talk about the EC Archives, Scoop, Zombie-Proof and Antiques. It was awesome!

The only thing missing was host Scott Hinze, who decided to miss his first episode ever of either the TV show or the Fanboy Radio program.

Click here to watch!

ZOMBIE-PROOF LANDS AT MOONSTONE!

Moonstone Books will unleash Zombie-Proof #1, the first issue of a three-issue, bi-monthly mini-series in September 2007.

For 20 years, the denizens of San Rosina, Texas have thought locksmith Billy Bob Driwahl was at least a little crazy because he offered the rather unusual service of "zombie-proofing" in his Yellow Pages ad. Now that the world's being overrun by zombies, though, and he's ready for them... but how did he know beforehand? 30 pages of story!

The zombies are coming. Billy Bob Driwahl, the only locksmith in the isolated town of San Rosina in far west Texas knows they’re coming. In fact, he’s known since before he graduated high school 20 years ago. His mistake might have been trying to tell people.

Since then, the town’s been divided into two groups. There are the folks who think he’s plain crazy, and there are the other folks who think he’s plain crazy but realize that he does good work and is, after all, the only locksmith in town. Then the civilized world starts to collapse. What happens to the good old boys in this rural town when the big cities are tearing themselves to pieces? Zombie-Proof has the answers. And some of them are sort of funny.

ZOMBIE-PROOF

Zombie-Proof, The Story of Billy Bob Driwahl by Vincent Spencer and yours truly. Fall 2007.

Billy Bob (above, left) and Rufus T. Spalding, also known as Icon (above, right).

More news soon!

The EC Archives - Weird Science

The second volume in The EC Archives - Weird Science line is scheduled to reach comic shops on Wednesday, April 25, 2007. With a foreword by DC Comics President and Publisher Paul Levitz, this latest EC Archives volume features Weird Science #7-12, 24 stories from the early days of the title. Working from distinctive Al Feldstein scripts, artists Jack Kamen, Harvey Kurtzman, Joe Orlando, Wally Wood and others helped carve out the EC style. The original stories, covers and text pages are accompanied by historical notes from Gemstone's Russ Cochran and veteran EC historian Roger Hill, too.

The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #37 on sale 4/25/07

Next week is scheduled to mark the arrival of the new edition of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. Traditionally the day the Guide arrives is a big day in comics, and this year it falls on Wednesday, April 25, 2007, allowing stores to be fully stocked in advance of Free Comic Book Day, May 5.

This year's edition features a choice of covers: New Avengers by Mark Sparacio (Heroes For Hire, Shi) and Supergirl by Billy Tucci (Shi, Heroes For Hire), and the limited, spiral-bound version, The Big, Big Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide is expected to be on sale the same day. That edition features a recreation of Daredevil #1 by John K. Snyder III.


This year marks the first year that the spiral-bound version has been released with the standard hard cover and soft cover editions.In addition to the usual diverse assortment of market reports and the latest pricing, this edition includes feature articles on Daredevil (by novelist and noted comics historian Will Murray), Captain America (by celebrated designer and comics historian Michael Kronenberg), CGC (by CGC's own Steve Borock), and "The Semi-Secret Origins of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide" (an interview with Bob Overstreet by yours truly).



Last year saw the return of The Overstreet Hall of Fame, and this year sees a major expansion of its roster in the pages of the Guide's color section. As always, The Guide remains the most complete listing of comics from the 1500s to the present.

24: NIGHTFALL #5 Now On Sale

The fifth and final issue of the 24: Nightfall mini-series is on sale now. This prequel to Season One of the Fox TV series 24 spells out just what happened on Jack Bauer's ill-fated mission to tale out mass murderer Victor Drazen. It's written by Mark L. Haynes and me with art by Jean Diaz.

This series, and our previous 24 work, was written up this week in Beau Smith's "Busted Knuckles" column on the Silver Bullet Comicbooks site.

We're looking forward to doing more 24 with IDW in the near future, and I'm presently at work on the Season 5 trading cards for Artbox Entertainment.

Two-Fisted Tales - Volume One

THE EC ARCHIVES: TWO-FISTED TALES - Volume One

This first volume of the critically acclaimed Two-Fisted Tales showcases the work of writer-artist-editor Harvey Kurtzman, writer-artist-editor Al Feldstein, and artists Wally Wood, Johnny Craig, John Severin, Will Elder and Jack Davis. It also sports an introduction by Steve Geppi.

If you think you know war comics but haven't read Two-Fisted Tales, you definitely don't know war comics.

Like the rest of the volumes in the EC Archives series, it's $49.95, full-color, 212 pages.